The door of your garage plays an important role in the overall security and aesthetics of your home. The garage offers great space for storing things that don’t belong indoors or are not used very frequently. Some people may even have their washing area out in the garage or a mini activity area. The garage door keeps all that stuff (including the car) inside the garage safe from theft or being damaged by the nature’s elements. The outlook of the garage door also plays an important role in defining the overall aesthetic of your home. A nice looking and well kept door will add to the outlook of the house and make it more visually pleasing whereas, an ugly or damaged garage door can make your home look bad too.

The most common issue faced by many home owners is that their garage door spring gets broken. The door is heavy and with the spring broken you will have a big problem at your hands. Imagine the frustration in the morning when you are running late for school or work and can’t get the garage door to open because the broken spring has rendered the whole garage door system inert. While it is a smart move to get a garage door repair dfw, but in case you are in a hurry you can attempt to open the door yourself even with the broken spring. If your garage door has a broken spring, there might be a lot more broken than you would think. A lot of the times people tend to not only repair the springs but also invest in a new opener itself. Recently, Home Gear Expert listed a top 10 guide for finding the best garage door opener on their website.

Before we get to the solution, let’s first understand what factors may cause the problem. This will leave you better equipped in dealing with the issue.

 

Garage Door Spring

The garage door spring is the part of the garage door that is responsible for lifting the door up. This is either done via remote control from the convenience of your driving seat or can be done manually as well. When the garage door spring gets broken, the door cannot be uplifted and is rather heavy and dangerous to be lifted up by force.

There are two different types of garage door springs. One is the torsion spring and the other is called the extension spring. They differ on the basis of where on the garage door they are placed. The torsion garage door spring is either located above the garage door or on the inside front wall of the garage. The help support the weight of the garage door by opening and closing along with it. The extension spring on the other hand is located along the tracks of the garage door on either side. The extension spring also supports the weight of the garage door with the weight if it being distributed differently than the torsion spring.

 

Reasons Why a Garage Door Spring May Get Broken

There are two main reasons for a garage door spring to break. The first one being usage. Even if you have one car and you are the only person who drives it. You open and close the garage door in the morning when leaving for work and in the evening when you get back. This number increases if you go out for errands or leisure later. This number also increases if more people are using the garage. Depending on the usage, the spring is bound to get worn out and can eventually break.

The second reason is poor maintenance and the effect of the elements which results in rust. Rust easily weakens the metal which the spring is made of. So if you are not regularly maintaining your garage door mechanism, the spring is most likely going to break.

 

Opening a Garage Door with a Broken Spring

The morning routine can be easily disrupted with a setback and it can easily snowball into a bad day. So, if you have discovered that your garage door spring has broken in the morning, try not to panic and focus on coming up with a solution. You can’t get someone to come fix it on such a short notice but you need to open the garage door to get your car out. In order to do it properly and safely, you can follow these steps to open your garage door with a broken spring:

Step 1: Place Two Ladders

On either side of the garage door place two 6 foot ladders. These ladders will help keep the garage door open when you manage to prop the door open all the way.

Step 2: Use Crowbars

Get two crowbars or pry bars. Grab one yourself and get a helping hand to grab the other. Now each of you should insert the crowbars on opposite ends of the garage door at the same time. Pry the door high enough so you can grab the bottom edge of the garage door with your hands.

Step 3: Push

Grab the bottom edge of the door tightly and push the door upwards. You and your helper must do this at the same time. Try not to overextend your back and push the door upwards slowly. DONOT stand under the door while it is not secured or it can cause some serious injuries.

Step 4: Use Vice Grips and Ladder

Once you have fully pushed the door open, use the vice grips attached to the garage door track to keep the door from shutting. Move the 6 foot ladders under the door, using them as door rests. You can leave the vice grips in place for extra precaution or remove them once the ladders are in place.

With a few simple tools that you should have around the house, this is a quick and easy fix to a broken garage door spring. But you should call a professional later to examine the garage door and to replace the broken spring. Just because you have managed to open the door with a broken spring once doesn’t mean it is recommended on a daily basis. The sooner you have a technician fix it, the better.

Hope this helps you deal with a broken garage door spring emergency.