2026-04-07 6 min read
Rollinsford has a lot of older homes. That's part of the town's character. the pre-war mill worker houses near the Salmon Falls River, the colonial-era farmhouses tucked back from Route 4, the capes and ranches that went up in the mid-20th century and have been handed down through families ever since. What all of these homes have in common is that their garage doors. and more importantly, their garage door springs. are aging right along with them.
A broken garage door spring is one of the most disruptive repairs a homeowner can face. The door becomes inoperable, your car may be trapped inside, and the repair is not something you can safely DIY. The good news: springs almost always give you warning signs before they fail completely. Knowing what to look for gives you time to schedule a repair on your terms instead of scrambling on a Monday morning when you're already late.
It's a common misconception that the opener motor does the heavy lifting on a garage door. In reality, the motor handles only a small fraction of the work. The springs. either torsion springs mounted above the door or extension springs running along the horizontal tracks. store and release energy to counterbalance the full weight of the door, which on older single-car garage doors can easily run 150 to 400 lbs.
Extension springs, the older technology, are typically found on lighter doors and older homes. exactly the kind of housing stock that's common in Rollinsford and nearby South Berwick across the river. Torsion springs are more common on newer or heavier doors and tend to last longer. Most standard torsion springs are rated for around 10,000 cycles. At four uses per day, that works out to roughly seven to nine years. though heavy use or a very heavy door can shorten that considerably.
If your garage was built or last updated more than a decade ago, your springs deserve a close look.
This is the clearest early warning sign. Disconnect your opener by pulling the red emergency release cord and try to lift the door by hand to about waist height. A properly balanced door should stay in place when you let go. If it drops immediately or feels like you're lifting dead weight, the springs are no longer doing their job. A spring that has lost tension puts enormous extra strain on your opener motor. which can lead to a second, more expensive repair down the road. If you want to understand how motor strain connects to opener failures, our motor repair guide for homeowners is a good reference.
Many homeowners describe hearing what sounds like a gunshot or a car backfiring coming from the garage. often in the middle of the night. That's the sound of a torsion spring snapping under tension. After that happens, the door will feel extremely heavy, may only open a few inches, or won't move at all. If you hear this sound, stop using the door immediately and contact a professional before attempting anything else.
Take a look at your torsion spring. it runs horizontally above the door, mounted to a metal bar. A healthy spring should look like a uniform, tightly wound coil with no spaces between the turns. If you notice a gap anywhere in the coil, the spring has already broken or is very close to it. Also look for rust or corrosion, which weakens the metal and accelerates wear. Rollinsford's humid summers along the Salmon Falls River and wet winter snowmelt can both contribute to spring rust, especially in older garages without good ventilation.
If your garage door tilts, wobbles, or rises unevenly. one side higher than the other. you likely have a spring that's worn out on one side while the other is still intact. This kind of uneven tension puts stress on the cables, rollers, and track hardware simultaneously. Left unaddressed, it can bend tracks or fray cables and turn a straightforward spring replacement into a more involved repair.
Some noise is normal, especially in cold weather when metal contracts. But persistent squeaking or a grinding sound that wasn't there six months ago often points to springs losing tension and creating uneven friction. This is also a sign that lubrication has broken down. While you can apply a silicone-based or lithium-based lubricant to the coils every few months to reduce friction and slow rust, once the noise becomes consistent it's time for a professional inspection. You can review what to look for across your full door system on our garage door feature and maintenance checklist.
Spring replacement is one of those jobs that looks simple but carries real danger. Torsion springs are wound under enormous tension. enough that a snapping spring can cause serious injury or damage to your garage ceiling and door panels. Professional technicians use specialized winding bars, clamps, and follow precise tension specifications matched to your door's exact weight.
A proper spring replacement includes inspecting the cables, rollers, and opener to make sure nothing else was stressed by the failing spring, selecting the correct spring type and tension rating for your door's weight, and testing door balance after installation. The whole job typically takes one to two hours for a professional. Before you schedule, it helps to have a sense of what fair pricing looks like. our post on garage door repair cost breakdowns walks through typical spring replacement costs so you're not going in blind.
When one spring breaks, it's standard practice to replace both at the same time. Springs on the same door wear at the same rate, so if one has failed, the other is close behind. Replacing both now saves a second service call within months.
If any of these warning signs sound familiar, don't wait for the full failure. Rollinsford Garage Doors handles spring replacements throughout Rollinsford and the surrounding area, including Dover, Portsmouth, and Exeter. A broken spring rarely gives you a second warning before it goes. but if you catch it early, you can schedule the repair at a time that works for you. Browse our full list of services or reach out to book an inspection before the problem takes your garage offline entirely.
No. If the door feels significantly heavier than usual, is opening unevenly, or you can see a gap in the spring coil, stop using the door. Operating it with a failing spring puts excessive strain on the opener motor and cables, and if the spring snaps while the door is moving it can cause serious damage or injury.
A professional can typically complete a spring replacement in one to two hours. Most technicians carry common spring sizes in their vehicles, so same-day repairs are usually possible. You won't need to leave your garage unsecured overnight in most cases.
Yes, in almost every case. Both springs on the same door wear at the same rate. If one has failed, the other has the same number of cycles on it and is very likely to fail within weeks or months. Replacing both at the same time is more cost-effective and prevents a second service call shortly after the first.