How Long Do Garage Door Springs Last? Cycles, Years and Signs

Short answer: garage door springs wear out by use, not by age. Standard residential springs are commonly rated at around 10,000 cycles, where one cycle is the door opening and closing once, though ratings vary by spring. For a household that uses the door about four times a day that works out to roughly seven years. Use it more and they last fewer years; use it less and they last longer.

From Cycles to Years

Count how many times your door opens on a normal day. Every departure and return is a cycle, and so is every trip to the bins or the bikes.

These are estimates from the arithmetic, not guarantees. Individual springs fail earlier or later depending on the conditions below. Higher-cycle springs are also made, rated for several times the standard figure; they cost more at installation and suit households where the garage is the main way in and out.

Torsion and Extension Springs

• Torsion springs sit on a steel bar above the closed door and twist to lift it. They are the modern standard, give smoother and better-balanced movement, and generally outlast extension springs.
• Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on each side and stretch as the door closes. They are found on older and lighter doors. They should always have a safety cable running through the middle so that a broken spring cannot fly across the garage.

What Shortens Spring Life

• Heavy use. The biggest factor by far.
• Cold. Spring steel is more brittle in cold weather, which is why worn springs so often break on the first hard freezes of winter.
• Rust. Corrosion weakens the steel and adds friction between the coils. Damp garages and road salt both speed it up.
• No lubrication. Dry coils grind against each other on every cycle.
• The wrong spring for the door. A spring that is undersized for the door's weight is overworked from the first day. This often happens when a heavier door or added insulation is fitted without changing the springs.
• A door that is out of balance or binding in its tracks, which makes the springs and the opener work harder.

Signs Your Springs Are Wearing Out

• The door feels heavier than it used to when lifted by hand.
• It will not stay put when left half open with the opener disconnected.
• It closes faster than before, or lands hard.
• The opener strains, slows, or stops and reverses on the way up.
• The door rises unevenly or looks slightly crooked.
• You can see rust, or gaps opening between the coils. Extension springs may look stretched and no longer close up fully.
• Squeaking or creaking from the spring that lubrication does not cure.

More detail: signs your garage door spring is about to break. If a spring has already gone, you will usually have heard a loud bang and the door will barely lift: what to do about a broken spring.

A Safe Check You Can Do

With the door fully closed, pull the red release cord to disconnect the opener. Lift the door by hand to about waist height and let go carefully. A door with healthy, correctly matched springs stays close to where you leave it. If it drops or is hard to lift, the springs are weak or out of adjustment. Lower the door, reconnect the opener, and arrange a service visit. That is as far as a homeowner check should go.

Making Springs Last

• Lubricate twice a year with a garage door lubricant along the length of the coil. Wipe off the excess.
• Keep the door balanced and the tracks and rollers in good order, so the springs are not fighting friction.
• Ask about higher-cycle springs at the next replacement if the door is used many times a day.
• Have the door checked once a year if it is in daily use. See garage door maintenance.

Replacing Springs

On a door with two springs, both have done the same work, so when one breaks the other is usually close behind. Replacing them together keeps the door balanced and avoids a second failure soon after. The new springs have to be matched to the measured weight of the door, not simply copied from the old ones.

Spring replacement is not a homeowner repair. Winding and unwinding springs releases enough force to cause serious injury, and so does loosening the cables, drums or bottom brackets connected to them. See garage door spring replacement, or if the door is stuck with the car inside, emergency garage door repair.

Related Guides

• How long garage doors last
• Spring broke overnight: what to do
• Garage door maintenance guide

Frequently Asked Questions