You may think that a garage door is something you can just set and forget about, but this could not be further from the truth. Homeowners need to pay close attention to their condition, or the garage door spring repair might come earlier than expected.
How do you figure out the longevity of garage door springs? First, you have to take a ballpark measurement of how many cycles your garage doors undergo each day. Each cycle involves the opening and closing down of the garage door – if you stop to count, you’ll be surprised how often these cycles of garage doors happen every day!
Industry standards provide life expectancies. For example, a standard spring can last up to 5,000 cycles. Meanwhile, oil-maintained springs and higher quality ones could go up to 10,000 cycles. Calculate how often your garage doors cycle each day, and you get an approximate number of years.
How Long Do Garage Door Springs Last?
There are two different types of garage door springs, and each come with a different life cycle:
Torsion Springs – torsion springs are located at the middle top portion of the garage door. This thick, robust spring absorbs much of the entire door panel to keep things in place during every movement. Depending on the use and maintenance, torsion springs usually last for 5,000 – 20,000 cycles (about seven years or more).
Extension Springs – extension springs, from the name, extend when the garage doors cycle and act to support the counterbalance that the bigger torsion system can perform. They could last up to 15,000 to 20,000 cycles (around seven to twelve years).
3 Factors That Determine Garage Door Spring Lifespan
Garage door springs can last for years even in hectic homes and businesses. Aside from factory standards, there are a few other factors that could affect how long garage door springs might last:
Weight of the Garage Doors
As we’ve explained, garage door springs do most of the heavy lifting, powered by the motor to lift and close down the doors. Garage doors can easily weigh more than 100 pounds, which means your springs would have to raise such weight several times a day. The heavier the doors, the faster wear and tear on the springs.
Choose the correct garage door springs according to the weight of your doors. Your garage door service professional can measure the IPPT (inch-pounds-per-turn). Your technician will make the calculations, and recommend the correct spring size. And depending on the length, you may need just a single spring or two springs to cover the entire garage doors.
Regular Upkeep
With garage doors, there are many dynamic, mechanical parts that need care from time to time. And springs are no different. Frequent lubrication of torsion and extension springs are needed to maximize their lifespan. Your garage door service will use lithium-based lubricant to keep the metal parts as friction-free as possible.
External Factors
When factors like extreme temperatures or high humidity are present, even if you have regular garage door maintenance, these would still impact the lifespan of your springs. Moisture could cause corrosion and cause the metal to chip and be brittle. Therefore, the life cycle of a garage spring may be considerably shortened than industry standards.
Get Garage Door Spring Repair Here
Garage door springs are built to withstand busy routines – extension and torsion springs can last for years with proper upkeep. Of course, there will come a time that you would need to replace them.
If you want to get your garage door spring replaced, make sure that the company doing it has reputable qualifications and provides warranty service. We don’t recommend replacing them by yourself because springs can be dangerous with high pressure on them – garage door spring repair is not designed for amateurs!
Our garage door maintenance team can assist you with any spring installation or spring repair need. We are available for both scheduled work and 24/7 emergency service. Let us handle your spring concerns today.