2026-03-29 7 min read
If you've ever walked into your garage on a bitter February morning and heard a loud bang. followed by a door that won't budge. you already know what a broken spring feels like. It's one of the most common calls we get here in Hanson, and there's a real reason it happens more in late winter than any other time of year.
Hanson sits in Plymouth County, where winters are no joke. Temperatures regularly swing from the low 20s overnight to the mid-40s by afternoon, and that daily freeze-thaw cycle does more damage to your garage door springs than most homeowners realize.
Garage door springs are made of tightly wound steel. When temperatures drop, that metal contracts. becoming less flexible and more brittle under the constant tension of supporting your door's weight. It's basic physics, and it's hard on metal.
What makes New England winters particularly rough is the cycle itself. Each morning the metal contracts as temperatures drop, and each afternoon it expands again as things warm up. This daily expansion and contraction repeats throughout the season, and every cycle weakens the molecular structure of your torsion springs. By the time February or March rolls around, your springs have already endured months of this stress. and it only takes one more cold snap to push a weakened spring past its limit.
Thick lubricant compounds the problem. Cold temperatures can turn standard lubricants into a thick, viscous sludge, increasing friction and forcing the springs. and your opener motor. to work much harder to lift the door. That extra resistance is often the final straw for a spring that's already near the end of its life.
Most homes in Hanson were built between the 1960s and 1990s. a mix of Cape Cods, raised ranches, and Colonials on acre-sized lots with attached garages. Many of those homes still have the original builder-grade torsion springs, which are typically rated for about 10,000 cycles. For a family that uses the garage as the primary entry point, that can mean a lifespan of just 7 to 10 years under ideal conditions. shorter in a New England climate.
Upgrading to high-cycle torsion springs, rated for 20,000 to 30,000 cycles or more, can effectively double or triple usable spring life. It costs a bit more upfront but is almost always the smarter investment, especially on a home where the garage sees daily use. If you're unsure what's on your door right now, our full services page has more detail on what a proper spring inspection covers.
Springs rarely fail without giving some advance notice. Here's what to watch for:
- A loud bang from the garage, even when you're not near it. this is often a spring snapping - The door opens a few inches and stops. the opener is straining without spring support - Crooked or uneven movement. one spring may have already failed - A visible gap in the coil of the spring itself - The door feels impossibly heavy when lifted manually
If you notice your opener humming louder than usual or straining to pull the door up, don't ignore it. Continuing to run the opener against a failing spring can destroy the motor. If a spring does snap, stop using the door entirely and call for service. The opener is not designed to carry the full weight of the door on its own. doing so can cause it to burn out immediately.
You can't stop metal fatigue, but you can slow it down and catch problems before they strand you.
Lubricate the right way. Use a white lithium grease or dedicated silicone spray on your springs, rollers, and hinges at least once a year. ideally in fall, before the cold sets in. Avoid standard WD-40; it's a degreaser, not a lubricant, and can strip away existing protection. Our fall maintenance checklist walks through the full seasonal routine in detail.
Test your door's balance. Disconnect the opener and lift the door manually to about waist height. If it stays put, the springs are reasonably balanced. If it crashes down or shoots up, there's a tension problem that needs professional attention.
Keep the area around the door clear. Snow and ice melt, then refreeze right at the base of the door. freezing the bottom seal to the concrete and forcing the opener to strain against it. This adds sudden shock load to already-stressed springs. Shovel out that area and keep gutters clear to reduce pooling water.
Schedule an annual inspection. If your springs are more than 7 years old and your household uses the garage multiple times daily, a proactive replacement is almost always cheaper than an emergency call. Over in Pembroke and Kingston, we see the same pattern. homeowners who stay ahead of it avoid the midnight emergency.
Yes. almost always. If your door uses two torsion springs and one breaks, both should be replaced together. They've experienced the same wear and the same number of cold-weather cycles. Replacing only the broken one leaves you with mismatched tension and a second failure likely within months. It may feel like spending more than necessary, but it's genuinely the more cost-effective move. You can read more about how to think through repair decisions like this in our labor vs. parts breakdown.
Spring replacement is not a DIY job. Torsion springs store enormous amounts of energy under tension. If one releases unexpectedly during an amateur repair, the results can be severe. This is a job for a trained technician with the proper tools and winding bars. full stop. Contact us if you're seeing any of the warning signs above and we'll get out to take a look.
Q: How do I know if my garage door spring is broken? The most common signs are a loud bang followed by the door refusing to open, the opener straining or humming without the door moving, or the door feeling extremely heavy when lifted manually. A visible gap in the torsion spring coil above the door is also a clear indicator.
Q: Why do springs seem to break more in February and March than in December? It comes down to accumulated fatigue. By late winter, your springs have already endured months of freezing nights and warmer afternoons, with the metal repeatedly contracting and expanding. Existing micro-fractures in the steel expand under tension. A spring that was near its cycle limit in November may hold through December but finally give out after one more cold snap in February.
Q: Is it safe to use my garage door with a broken spring? No. With a broken spring, the opener motor is carrying the full weight of the door. a load it was never designed to handle. Continued use can burn out the opener motor and, in some cases, cause the door to fall. Stop using the door and call a technician right away.