What’s the biggest door in your house? Hint; it faces you each and every time you arrive home; and it’s not your front door. In keeping with America’s rising interest in the automobile, an upward lifting garage door was introduced to the masses in the early 1900’s. From there, innovation took over as sectional and overhead doors were manufactured, and automatic garage door openers became commonplace.
As demand grew for every homeowner to have two cars in every garage – which stemmed from Herbert Hoover’s pre-depression promise – so did the demand for multi-garages which meant bigger and stronger garage doors needed to be built. One thing that hasn’t changed in all of these years, however, is that in order for all garage doors to work they must be built with durable torsion or extension springs.
Two Types of Springs
As mentioned above, there are two types of springs, torsion and extension. Don’t know which you have? Extension springs are normally located above the tracks on both sides, whereas, torsion springs are located above the garage door itself. While very different in nature, with varying methods of operation, both types of springs share one thing in common – they’re under immense tension.
It is this tension that makes it seem all-too easy for you to open and close your door. However, when the springs break, which they will eventually do at some point or another in your door’s lifespan (please refer to table below for more information) all of this tension is released and you’ll no longer be able to operate your garage door.
|
How Often Used |
Life Expectancy |
|
Two Times Per Day |
14 years |
|
Four Times Per Day |
7 years |
|
Six Times Per Day |
5 years |
This table reflects information regarding a 10,000 life-cycle rated spring. One cycle is reflective of a single opening and closing sequence. Most manufactures and garage door repair companies, including Door Service Today, provide high-cycle springs that are capable of withstanding a 30,000 life-cycle. This is one place that we recommend purchasing high-cycle springs rather than standard.
A Note of Caution
Please remember that your garage door springs are tightly wound and are under an immense amount of tension. When they break – or when an inexperienced do it yourselfer attempts to replace them – they can cause a whole lot of pain. For your safety, please leave them alone, and promptly call an experience garage door repair company in your area.