Garage Door Spring Repair in Far Rockaway & Queens

Torsion or extension: which springs does your door have?

Look above the closed door. If you see one or two thick coils wrapped around a steel bar that runs across the top, you have torsion springs. They twist as the door closes and unwind to lift it. Most newer doors in Queens use them.

If instead you see long springs running along the horizontal tracks on each side, stretched toward the back of the garage, you have extension springs. They stretch when the door closes and pull it up as they shorten. They are common on older and lower garages, including some of the small detached garages behind houses on the peninsula.

Both do the same job: they carry the weight of the door so that you — or the opener — only have to guide it. That is why a door with a broken spring suddenly feels like a wall of steel.

How a replacement spring is sized

A spring is not a one-size part. Putting the wrong one on makes the door drift down, fly up, or wear out the opener. When we replace a torsion spring we match four things:

• Wire size — the thickness of the steel. A heavier door needs thicker wire.
• Inside diameter — usually about 1¾ or 2 inches on home doors.
• Length — measured with the spring unwound.
• Wind — left or right hand, depending on which side of the center bracket the spring sits.

Extension springs are rated by how much weight they lift, and the colored paint on the end of each one shows that rating. The two sides have to match. If your door has been patched over the years with mismatched springs, it will usually show — one side of the door rises before the other.

Why we replace springs in pairs

Springs on the same door were usually installed on the same day and have made the same number of trips. When one breaks, the other has nearly the same wear and is likely to follow. Replacing both saves you a second visit and keeps the door's balance even. One torsion spring costs from $275; a pair costs from $475, so the second spring adds $200 instead of another full service call. If you only want one replaced, we will do it and tell you honestly what to expect.

Springs and salt air near Jamaica Bay

Ocean humidity is hard on spring steel. Rust pits the surface of the coils, and a pit is exactly where a spring tends to crack. On homes close to the beach or the bay we often find springs with orange flaking well before their expected life is up.

Two things help. First, a light coat of garage door lubricant on the coils a couple of times a year keeps moisture off — not WD-40, which is a cleaner and solvent and washes off the grease that is there. Second, if your door gets heavy daily use, ask about high-cycle springs, which are built for more open-and-close cycles than standard ones. A pair of high-cycle torsion springs costs from $525.

Rust also attacks the parts around the spring: the cable drums at each end of the bar, the bearing plates and the lift cables. We check all of them when we change a spring, because a new spring on a rusted cable is only half a repair.

Converting extension springs to torsion

If your door still runs on extension springs and you are tired of the noise and the jerky motion, a conversion to a torsion system costs from $575. Torsion springs give a smoother lift, sit in one place above the door, and don't whip across the garage if they break. Extension springs should always have a safety cable running through the middle for that reason; if yours don't, we add them.

What spring replacement costs in Queens

Spring replacement in Far Rockaway and the rest of Queens starts at $275 for one torsion spring, $475 for a pair and $325 for a pair of extension springs. Every job includes setting the tension and balancing the door.

Why spring repair is not a do-it-yourself job

A wound torsion spring stores enough energy to lift a door that weighs a couple of hundred pounds. Releasing or winding it takes proper winding bars, the right order of steps and a firm grip on what happens if a set screw slips. Videos make it look like ten minutes. When it goes wrong, the bar or the spring can strike your hands or head. We would much rather you call.

A spring customer's words

Questions about broken springs

How do I know a garage door spring is broken?

The usual signs are a loud bang from the garage, a visible gap in the coils of a torsion spring, and a door that lifts only a few inches or feels extremely heavy. On extension springs you may see one hanging loose.

Should both springs be replaced at once?

Usually, yes. Both springs have the same age and the same number of cycles, so the second one tends to break soon after the first. A pair costs from $475 against $275 for one.

How long do garage door springs last near the ocean?

It depends on use and rust. Standard springs are built for a set number of cycles, and salt air near the beach and bay can shorten that. Lubricating the coils helps them last.

What is a high-cycle spring?

A high-cycle spring is made to handle more open-and-close cycles than a standard spring. It suits busy garages. A pair costs from $525.

Can I open the door with a broken spring?

We don't recommend it. Without the spring, the door is extremely heavy and can fall. Leave it closed, unplug the opener and call us.

Save on your spring job

Written by The Garage Door Spring Queens Team · Last updated: October 2026