Has this ever happened to you? Do you know how heavy a ‘double’ wooden garage door is?
Woke up this past Saturday morning and couldn’t open the door with the garage door opener; tried several times until I realized one of the springs was broken. I tried lifting it by myself…forget it. Of course our vehicle was stuck in the garage.
Later in the day, when my son came home from work, we were JUST able to lift the garage door while my wife drove the car out. When we let the door down…let’s just say, you wouldn’t want to be under it…it was very, very heavy.
Apparently this is common, according to the garage door people. The typical garage door springs last about 12,000 cycles. Now let’s do the math…
- Open and closed once a day = 32 years
- Open and closed four time a day = 8 years
My garage door springs lasted about 5 years, which means I must have opened & closed the door a little over 6 times a day! Is that possible? You know what…it probably is.
the dan blog 
Is the longevity of the spring related to the weight of the door? Do the springs wear the same on an aluminum door as they do on a wooden door?
Hi Christine,
I’m no expert on the matter, but, I believe the weight of the door is NOT a factor since the spring is designed for the weight. It follows then that an aluminum door would be no different. What causes the springs to fail is how many cycles of open and close, like most things they simply wear out.
Are you in the same situation?