How Much Does It Cost To Replace A Garage Spring Door?

If you’ve ever looked up at the top of your garage door, you may have seen a coiled spring running parallel or perpendicular to the door. Garage door springs are key to opening and closing your garage door. Without one, your garage door would be incredibly heavy and even dangerous to raise and lower manually. We’ll go into more of the mechanics of how each type of garage door spring works in a moment.

You can break down the cost to replace a garage spring door by looking at material costs, labor and the removal of old garage door fixtures.

Labor

Hiring a garage door installer costs anywhere from $65 to $85 per hour and varies based on the cost of living near you. Most garage door spring installations take up to an hour to complete, but complex installations that require new cables and other garage door mechanisms could take three hours or more.

Removal of Old Door Fixtures and Debris

Removing old garage door fixtures can be as simple as recycling your garage door spring. If you replace the garage door and the spring, then you may need to factor in additional removal costs. The cost to hire a junk removal company to remove an old garage door can range from $100 to $250.

Some garage installers may offer to haul away old garage doors as an add-on or an included cost in the quote. Check with local installers to see if they include these expenses in their estimates.

Type of Spring

The type of spring you choose for your garage door will typically range from $10 to $250. There are two main types of garage door springs. At $10 to $60, extension springs cost less than torsion springs, which come in at $30 to $250. Just how much your garage door spring costs depends on whether you buy a single spring or a two-pack.

Below is a breakdown of the cost of a garage door spring by type and quantity:

Type of Door

Some types of garage doors use extension springs, while other garage doors use torsion springs. Meanwhile, other garage doors may allow you to use either, so it’s a good idea to read the manufacturer’s specifications when deciding on a garage door spring. Generally speaking, here are the most common costs for garage door springs based on the type of door:

The two types of garage door springs you’ll find when shopping for a new spring for your door are extension springs and torsion springs. Torsion springs cost 200% to 300% more than extension springs.

Torsion springs are located right above your garage door—parallel to the door. This type of spring twists using torque to close the door and untwist to open the door. A torsion garage door spring is the safest and longest-lasting of the two.

Extension springs, on the other hand, are located between your garage door and the rear track hanger—perpendicular and center to the garage door. As the name suggests, these springs extend to open the door and contract to close the door. Though they have a lower cost, you’ll need to replace these springs more frequently, and they’re less safe on the off chance they break.

Knowing when it’s time to replace your garage door spring can help you prevent a catastrophe from occurring. Check out these seven signs that you need to replace your garage door spring:

1. It’s seven years or older.
2. Your garage door keeps opening and closing.
3. You see droopy cables.
4. The garage door opener has a hard time opening the door.
5. You see rust on the spring.
6. Your garage keeps opening and then closing or gets stuck.
7. You hear unusual, loud sounds when you open and close the door.

Several factors affect the cost of replacing a garage door spring, such as the number of garage doors and the size of the spring.

Number of Garage Doors

Whether you have a single garage door or a double garage door can affect your overall costs. On average, one spring for a single-car garage door costs between $10 and $75, and a pair of left and right springs for a double-car garage door costs between $20 and $250. It isn’t always so simple, however, as a heavy wooden single-car garage door may need extra support and an additional spring to safely lift and close the door.

Spring Size

Springs designed to hold heavier doors cost more than springs for smaller doors. An extension spring that holds 60 to 80 pounds, for example, costs around $10, while an extension spring that holds 230 pounds costs around $80.

When installing a new spring for your garage door, you might encounter additional costs or expenses that could increase your total price. Several cost-increasing culprits include installing a new garage door opener, repairing a garage door, replacing your garage door and installing new garage door cables.

Garage Door Opener

The cost to install a new garage door opener ranges from $220 and $550, including labor. The wrong garage door opener motor or a failing one can cause the spring on your garage door to break prematurely. Here, you may need to install a new garage door opener entirely to ensure your garage door mechanisms operate for as long as possible.

Garage Door Repairs

Repairing a garage door costs between $150 and $375 on average, but prices can exceed $1,000, depending on the extent of the damage. For example, repairing a severely warped or rotten wood garage door costs significantly more than repairing fiberglass or dented aluminum garage doors.

Garage Door Installation

If your garage door is beyond repair, or you’re installing a garage door in your newly built garage, then you will need to factor in garage door installation costs ranging from $260 to $2,300, or approximately $1,200 on average.

Garage Door Cables

New garage door cables cost between $10 and $25 on average. Though inexpensive, garage door cables play an important role in ensuring the springs on your garage door operate correctly. Frayed and old garage door cables can break over time, causing your garage door to slam shut.

Garage Door Tune-Ups

The average cost to do a garage door tune-up is between $50 and $125. Having a garage door tune-up as part of your yearly garage maintenance list can help prevent your springs from breaking prematurely. This typically includes balancing and adjusting the track and springs, cleaning the motor of your garage door opener and lubricating the springs.

The average cost to replace a garage door opener can range from $10 to $250 if you purchase the spring and install it yourself. Doing so, however, can be dangerous if you don’t have experience replacing a garage door spring.

Hiring a garage door professional near you to replace your garage door spring costs an extra $65 to $85 an hour. This additional cost helps protect you and your family from injuries that may occur from trying to DIY a garage door spring replacement.

Most garage door springs can be replaced in an hour, but if your garage door needs readjusting, or you need to replace cables, the garage door opener, or other elements of your garage door setup, then you could end up paying between $130 to $250 for two or three hours of work.

To arrive at the average costs in this article, we surveyed five material providers and five local and national cost databases. All averaged figures were correct at the time of publication and may be subject to change.