A loud bang from the garage, and now the door won’t lift — or the opener strains and gives up. That’s a broken spring, and it’s the single most common garage door failure in the Yakima Valley. Springs are rated in cycles (a builder-grade torsion spring is typically 10,000 opens and closes), and between daily use, valley grit, and hard winters, most Yakima springs live 7–12 years before they let go.
We replace torsion and extension springs on residential and shop doors across Yakima, Selah, Union Gap, West Valley, Moxee, and Terrace Heights — usually in a single visit, because the common valley sizes ride on the truck. If one spring on a two-spring door breaks, we’ll explain why replacing both usually saves you a second service call six months from now, and price it both ways so it’s your call.
Upgrading to high-cycle (25,000+) springs costs modestly more and makes sense for busy households — ask when you call.
Signs you need this fixed now
- A loud bang or snap from the garage, then a door that won’t open
- The opener lifts a few inches, strains, and reverses
- A visible gap in the coil of the spring above the door
- The door slams down fast or feels extremely heavy to lift by hand
- Frayed or slack cables (springs and cables fail together)
Safety note: garage door springs and cables are under extreme tension. A 7-foot residential door can weigh 150–300 pounds. Winding or unwinding springs without the right bars and training causes serious injuries every year — this is one repair that isn’t a DIY job.
What the repair looks like
The tech confirms the spring type and size (torsion springs mount on the shaft above the door; extension springs stretch along the horizontal tracks), secures and disconnects the door, then swaps the broken spring — and its partner, if you’ve approved it — using winding bars rated for the job. Cables, bottom brackets, and center bearing get inspected while everything is apart, because a spring that died at 10,000 cycles has usually been dragging its neighbors down with it. The door is then balanced by hand: a properly sprung door should hover at waist height, not fall or fly up. Most residential spring jobs take 45–90 minutes. You approve the firm price before wrenches come out, and the phone quote range you got is the range you pay within.
The Yakima factor
Every January, the first stretch of single-digit mornings sets off broken-spring season across the valley. Cold makes spring steel brittle, and springs that were near the end of their cycle life fail in clusters — often first thing in the morning, on the first lift of the day. If your door is 10+ years old on its original springs, the cheapest time to replace them is before that week, not during it.
The older Craftsman-era homes around Franklin Park and the Barge-Chestnut neighborhood add a wrinkle: heavy original wood doors, sometimes hanging on springs sized for a lighter door that replaced nothing correctly decades ago. Those doors need springs matched to actual door weight, not a guess.
Common questions
How much does spring replacement cost?
Most Yakima-area residential spring replacements run $175–$375 including parts and labor, depending on spring type, door size, and whether you replace one spring or the pair. Firm price before work starts.
Should I replace one spring or both?
If your door has two springs and one broke, both have the same mileage — the survivor usually fails within months. Replacing both in one visit costs far less than two service calls, but we’ll price it both ways.
Can I use the door with a broken spring?
Don’t. The spring carries the door’s weight; without it, the opener is lifting 150–300 pounds it wasn’t built for, and the door can fall. If the car is trapped, call — that’s a priority visit.
Ready when you are
Broken door? Talk to a live person tonight.