2026-03-18 7 min read
If you've ever walked into your garage on a bitter January morning, hit the opener button, and heard nothing but a dull thunk. you already know what a broken spring feels like. It's one of the most common calls Westmoreland Garage Doors receives every single winter, and honestly, it's no surprise given what our weather puts these components through.
Westmoreland, NH sits in Cheshire County, and if you've lived here for more than a season you know the winters are no joke. Temperatures routinely swing from single digits overnight to the mid-30s by afternoon, and that yo-yo pattern is exactly what destroys garage door springs over time.
Torsion springs. the horizontal ones mounted above your door. are made of tightly coiled steel. When temperatures drop hard, that metal contracts and becomes more brittle. Each freeze-thaw cycle adds stress to coils that are already working hard every time you open and close the door. A spring that might have lasted another year in a milder climate can snap in February here.
It's worth knowing that most standard torsion springs are rated for around 10,000 cycles. roughly one open and one close counts as a single cycle. For a household using the garage door twice a day, that's about 7,10 years of life under normal conditions. But "normal" doesn't really describe a Westmoreland winter, where temperatures can dip below -5°F and linger there for days at a stretch.
The good news is that springs rarely fail completely without giving you a few hints first. Here's what to pay attention to:
Disconnect your automatic opener and try lifting the door by hand. A properly balanced door should lift smoothly and stay in place when you let go at waist height. If it drops, feels unusually heavy, or you notice the opener straining and running longer than it used to, your springs are likely losing tension. A standard residential door should open in roughly 12,15 seconds. if yours is taking noticeably longer, that's a red flag worth acting on before you're stuck.
Loud creaking, popping, or a sudden sharp bang are all acoustic signs that something's wrong. A fully snapped torsion spring often sounds like a gunshot inside the garage. jarring enough that homeowners sometimes think something fell off the wall. If you hear it, stop using the door immediately.
With the door closed, look up at the torsion spring above the opening. A clear gap in the coil means the spring has separated. Don't try to operate the door. and definitely don't try to fix it yourself. Springs are under enormous tension even when they look inactive, and DIY spring replacement is genuinely dangerous.
If your door closes at an angle. one corner lower than the other. that usually means one spring has failed while the other is still holding on. Your opener motor is now compensating, which can burn it out fast if left unaddressed. Check our guide on identifying track and alignment issues to understand how a spring imbalance can ripple into other parts of the system.
Running a garage door with a broken or failing spring doesn't just mean a sluggish door. it means your opener motor is lifting a 200,400 lb door essentially on its own. Openers aren't designed for that. The motor will overheat and burn out, turning a spring repair into a spring-plus-opener repair. Cables can also go slack when spring support disappears, increasing the risk of the door shifting off its tracks entirely.
The bottom line: a spring repair caught early is straightforward. Waiting until you're locked out on a cold morning in Walpole or missing work because the car's stuck inside is a much more expensive and stressful situation.
There are a few practical steps you can take to extend spring life and catch problems early:
- Lubricate twice a year. once in fall before temperatures drop, once in spring. Use a silicone-based or lithium-grease lubricant specifically designed for garage door hardware. Standard WD-40 is not the right product here. it evaporates too quickly and doesn't hold up in cold weather. - Do the manual balance test every fall. disconnect the opener and lift the door to waist height. If it doesn't hold its position, call for a tune-up before winter hits. - Don't ignore the sounds. if your door has started groaning, popping, or scraping in ways it didn't six months ago, schedule an inspection. See our full post on preparing your garage door for cold weather for a complete seasonal checklist.
If you're unsure about the condition of your springs, schedule a professional inspection before the next cold snap arrives. Catching a worn spring in October is far better than dealing with a snapped one in January.
Can I replace a garage door spring myself? This is one repair we genuinely advise against attempting on your own. Torsion springs are wound under significant tension. enough force to cause serious injury if released suddenly. This is a job for a trained technician with the proper winding bars and safety equipment.
How long do garage door springs last in New Hampshire's climate? Most standard torsion springs are rated for around 10,000 cycles under typical conditions. In a freeze-thaw climate like Westmoreland's, springs on older or heavily used doors may fall short of that rating. High-cycle springs rated for 25,000+ cycles are worth considering if you're already replacing a set.
Should I replace both springs at the same time, even if only one broke? Yes. and this is important. If one spring has snapped after years of use, the other spring has the same amount of wear and is likely close to its own breaking point. Replacing both at once saves you a second service call and keeps the door balanced.