A spring or cable has snapped
Garage Door Spring Replacement in Miami-Dade
Broken spring? Stop using the door and call.
One loud bang, and then a door that will not lift: that is a torsion spring, and it is the one fault on this site where doing nothing is the right first move.
A door resting on a broken spring weighs its full weight the second you take hold of it, and a torsion spring cannot be rewound by hand at any tension. We replace springs in matched pairs, renew the cables while everything is unloaded, and give you the price before approved work begins.
Do not lift the door by hand.
With the spring gone, nothing is carrying the weight but you. This is the fault where waiting costs nothing and improvising costs a lot.
Common issue
Torsion spring or lift cable
Handled on site
Replaced in matched pairs
Clear pricing
Before approved work starts
Three counties
Miami-Dade · Broward · Palm Beach
Quick answer
Why do garage door springs and cables break?
A spring is a consumable with a cycle count, and salt air spends that count faster than the manufacturer assumed.
The most common causes we see
Springs do not fail from one bad day. They fail from ten thousand ordinary ones, and here the coast takes a share of them.
The spring reached its cycles
A standard torsion spring is rated for about ten thousand open-and-close cycles, and then it parts.
A cable came off its drum
Once one side loses tension the cable unwinds, and it usually followed the spring rather than caused it.
The door is now out of balance
A crooked door is a door whose two sides stopped sharing the load, and forcing it makes the rest worse.
Salt air
Rust along the coils shortens a spring long before its cycle count runs out.
What the problem looks like
Customers usually describe it one of these ways.
These are some of the most common ways homeowners describe the problem.
A loud bang from the garage
Often heard from inside the house, and often the last thing the door did.
The opener strains and gives up
It is being asked to lift the whole door, which is not what it was sized for.
It lifts a few inches and stops
The weight is no longer balanced, so the door is sitting on what is left.
A visible gap in the coil
If you can see it from the floor, no other check is needed.
What we check on site
Secure it first. Then replace the pair.
Nothing is unbolted while the door is loaded. The load is brought under control, then the work starts.
Spring size against door weight
Wire, inside diameter and length, matched to what this door actually weighs.
Cables and drums
Fraying at the drum, and whether the drum itself has scored the cable.
Bearings and shaft
With the spring unloaded, the bearings are free to check, and that chance will not come again soon.
Track and bottom brackets
The bottom bracket is under full tension and is never touched with the door loaded.
Opener force settings
An opener that has been straining against a broken spring is usually set too hard afterwards.
Balance and safety reverse
The final proof: the door holds at waist height and reverses on contact.
Spring gone? Do not use the door.
Book a diagnostic visit or call now and we'll take it from there.
Likely repair paths
What the fix often turns out to be.
Torsion spring replacement
Springs are changed in pairs because the second one is already the same age as the first.
What spring service can include
- Matched pair replacement sized to the door
- Cycle rating chosen against your usage
- Cable and drum inspection while unloaded
- Balance and lift-force test after the change
Cable and drum replacement
The cable and the drum wear together, and the drum is the part nobody thinks to look at.
What cable service can include
- Lift cable replacement on both sides
- Drum inspection and replacement where scored
- Shaft alignment before retensioning
- Even-tension verification at both drums
Bearing and shaft service
With everything unloaded, the bearings cost minutes to change and years to ignore.
What bearing service can include
- End and center bearing replacement
- Bearing plate replacement where corroded
- Shaft coupler inspection
- Shaft run-out check before retensioning
No surprises
How the visit goes
Simple process, clear diagnosis, and no surprises before work starts.
- 01
You tell us the door won't open
Describe what the door is doing. You do not need to know the technical name of the failure.
- 02
We inspect and identify the cause
We test the system on site and show you the component or condition that is actually stopping the door.
- 03
You get the price before work starts
If you approve the work, we proceed. If not, you still have a clear diagnosis and next step.
Why South FL Garage Doors
Local, licensed, and ready to help.
Local, licensed, and used to this problem.
We have been serving South Florida homeowners since 2014 with repair, opener, spring, track, and emergency garage door service.
Since 2014
Serving South Florida homeowners
FL License 25BS00124
Licensed & insured
3 counties
Miami-Dade · Broward · Palm Beach
Free diagnostic visit
No obligation
Typical repair ranges
What the price often depends on
The exact price depends on the failed component, the condition of the door, and the repair required.
- Torsion spring replacement (pair)$250–$450
- Extension spring replacement$200–$330
- Lift cable replacement (pair)$225–$375
- Rollers or track repair$75–$350
These are published market ranges for South Florida, not a quote. The failed component and the condition of the door decide the final price.
2
springs changed together, on a door built with two
4
parts a proper spring job touches, not one
25BS00124
the certificate this repair is carried out under
More detail if you want it
What leaves the van with the spring
The bearings the shaft turns in are the first thing. They are inexpensive, they are behind the spring, and reaching them later means undoing the work that was just done — so a technician who leaves worn bearings in place to keep a quote low has guaranteed a second visit. The cable drums come next: a spring that broke violently can score a drum, and a scored drum eats cables until someone notices.
Then the cables themselves, if the break threw them off. And finally the balance, which is the part nobody puts on an invoice and the part that decides whether the new spring lasts. A correctly balanced door will sit still at waist height with the opener disconnected; one that drops or climbs is fighting its spring, and it will win eventually. Setting that takes a few minutes and it is the difference between a repair and a delay.
Reading a quote that looks too good
Three things separate a low number from a good one. Whether both springs are being changed or only the broken one. Whether the cycle rating is stated — a ten-thousand-cycle spring and a twenty-five-thousand-cycle spring look identical on a driveway and behave differently for years. And whether the bearings and drums are named at all, or quietly assumed to be fine by someone who has not looked at them.
Ask for those three in writing and most of the spread between quotes explains itself. Where the spread does not explain itself, the difference is usually somebody's license — and on a component that stores enough energy to break an arm, that is not the line item to economize on. Our certificate number is printed on this page for exactly that comparison.
What is covered afterwards is settled at the truck, in writing, and on this repair the cycle class you pick is what moves it: a spring specified for twice the openings is a different commitment from one specified for the minimum, and it should be priced and covered as one. Ask for the rating and the coverage in the same sentence.
| Work | Typical range | What moves the price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torsion spring replacement (pair) | $250 – $450 | Higher than extension springs: winding bars are required and the job carries real injury risk. Always replaced in pairs. | Book this — Torsion spring replacement (pair) |
| Extension spring replacement | $200 – $330 | Less common on Miami-Dade doors: hurricane-rated panels are heavier and usually call for torsion. | Book this — Extension spring replacement |
Market rates observed, not our quoted prices — surveyed 2026-08-16. HomeBlue / Angi, HomeBlue (Miami), Well Built Florida, Garage Doors FL (Fort Lauderdale), HomeAdvisor, Access Impact, Fort Lauderdale Garage Pros, Angi, OfficeFinder 2026 guide
Garage door spring questions, answered straight
Why replace both garage door springs when only one broke?
Because the pair was wound together and has carried every opening since. The one still standing is not undamaged — it is simply next in line.
- Identical cycle count on both
- Cheaper than a second callout weeks later
- Keeps the door pulling evenly
- Uneven pull wears one track
Can I supply my own garage door spring and pay only for labor?
No, and the reason is the undertaking rather than the margin — whoever winds a spring owns what happens next.
- Must match the door's actual weight
- Must match drum size and drop
- A photograph is not a measurement
A spring bought against a figure somebody read off a picture is a spring that will be wrong, and nobody can accept liability for a part they did not choose.
Can extension springs be converted to a torsion spring system?
Often yes, and on a heavy door the torsion system is the better one: the load sits on a shaft above the opening rather than on two stretched springs beside the tracks.
- Needs clear headroom above the opening
- Needs a solid header to anchor into
- A measurement question, not a preference
On a hurricane-rated panel, heavier than whatever it replaced, the conversion is worth raising before anything is quoted.
Does a garage door spring replacement need a permit in Florida?
Replacing a garage door spring is generally handled as maintenance of an existing assembly rather than as work on the building opening, though permit requirements can vary by scope and by jurisdiction.
- Permit territory: the panel itself
- Permit territory: the track assembly
- Permit territory: the fixings into the wall
A company that bills a spring change as permitted work has confused maintenance with envelope work, and it is worth wondering what else it has confused.
Sources
- Miami-Dade County — Product Control and Permitting
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Florida Building Commission — Product Approval
Edited by Avidan Benichay · Updated
General information about garage doors in South Florida — not a diagnosis of your door, and not a quote. Code and prices vary by address and change over time. Terms of use
Since 2014Licensed & insuredFL Lic. 25BS00124