A garage door should hold still wherever you stop it. If yours creeps down after you open it, drops the last few feet with a bang, or comes down much faster than it used to, the door is telling you something about its springs. This is worth taking seriously. A door that will not stay up is a door that can come down on a person, a pet, or a car.
The short version: the springs are what hold the door up, not the opener. When the door stops holding itself, the springs have usually weakened or one has broken. That is a pro repair, and the sooner it is looked at, the smaller it tends to be.
First: keep people out from under it
Until it has been checked, do not walk or park under a door that drifts or drops. Do not prop it open with a ladder, a stick, or a trash can. Those slip. If you need the door open, open it fully so it sits on its stops, and keep children and pets away from the opening. If you can leave it closed, that is safer still.
What usually causes it
- Springs that have lost tension with age. Springs wear out in cycles, and a tired spring stops carrying its share of the door's weight. The door feels heavier and starts to drift down.
- One broken spring on a two-spring door. The door may still move on the opener, but it is lopsided and heavy, and it drops when released.
- Springs that were never matched to the door. A door that had a panel replaced, insulation added, or the wrong springs fitted can end up heavier than its springs were sized for.
- A cable that has slipped or frayed. The door often hangs crooked or one side drops first.
- An opener out of adjustment. Less often, the door holds fine by hand but the opener's limit or force settings make it run down hard. That one is an opener adjustment, not a spring problem.
The one safe check you can do
Only do this if the door looks straight, the cables are on their drums, and you have not heard a loud bang from the garage recently. If any of those are off, skip it and call a pro.
With the door fully closed, pull the emergency release cord so the door is disconnected from the opener. Lift the door by hand to about halfway and carefully let go, keeping your hands and feet clear. A balanced door stays roughly where you left it. If it drops, the springs are not carrying the door. If it shoots up, they are set too strong. Either way, close it gently, reconnect it to the opener, and leave the rest to a technician.
If the door is hard to lift at all, stop. A door that feels like it weighs a few hundred pounds probably has a broken spring, and that weight is not something to hold over your head.
What is pro-only, every time
Garage door springs, cables, and the drums the cables wind onto are under high tension. Adjusting, winding, or replacing any of them is pro work. A winding bar that slips or a cable that lets go can cause serious injury. Do not loosen set screws, do not try to add turns to a spring, and do not swap a spring from a parts store.
Do not keep running the opener to get by either. An opener is built to guide a balanced door, not to lift its full weight. Running it on a door with weak or broken springs strips gears and burns out motors, which turns one repair into two.
How it gets fixed, and what moves the price
A technician checks the springs, cables, drums, and rollers, then replaces or re-tensions what is worn and sets the balance so the door holds at any height. On a two-spring door, both springs are usually replaced together so they wear evenly. If it turns out to be an opener setting rather than the springs, that is a smaller adjustment.
What moves the price is the spring type and size, how heavy the door is, whether one or both springs are replaced, and whether cables or rollers are worn too. You see a qualitative range up front, and the technician confirms the price in person after seeing the door.
If your garage door will not stay open or comes down hard, describe it on rogerrepair.com, and Roger books one vetted local garage door pro and confirms the appointment. Homeowners pay Roger nothing, and Roger does not add a markup on the pro's price.
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Common questions
Why won't my garage door stay open?+
Almost always the springs. As springs age they lose tension and stop carrying the door's weight, so the door drifts down. A broken spring on a two-spring door does the same thing more suddenly. Less often it is a slipped cable or an opener setting. Keep people out from under the door and have the springs checked. Spring work is pro-only.
Is it dangerous if my garage door slams shut?+
Yes. A door that drops fast can injure someone underneath it or damage a car, and it usually means the springs are no longer holding the door. Stop parking and walking under it, do not prop it open, and have a technician check the springs and cables.
Can I adjust garage door springs myself to fix it?+
No. Springs, cables, and drums are under high tension, and adjusting or replacing them is pro work. The only safe homeowner step is the balance check: with the door closed, disconnect it from the opener, lift it to halfway, and see whether it holds. If it drops or shoots up, leave the fix to a technician.