2026-03-26 6 min read
There's a reason spring failure is one of the most common garage door repair calls we get in Ronald and the surrounding Kittitas County area during winter. It's not bad luck. it's physics. And once you understand what's happening inside that coiled metal above your door, the timing of the problem makes complete sense.
Ronald sits at over 2,300 feet in the Cascades foothills, with overnight lows that can drop well below freezing and a consistent freeze-thaw cycle through the winter months. Communities nearby. Cle Elum, Easton, Hyak, Stampede Pass. see similar conditions. That cycle is hard on metal. And your garage door springs are under serious tension every single day.
Garage door springs work by storing mechanical energy. Every time you open your door, the springs release tension to help lift the weight. Every time it closes, they wind back up. A standard residential spring is rated for around 10,000 cycles. roughly 7 to 10 years of normal use for a household opening the door a few times daily.
But in a climate like Ronald's, that timeline shortens. Cold temperatures cause metal to contract. That contraction. repeated every night across a long winter. accelerates metal fatigue and creates microscopic stress fractures that build up over time. A spring that still had years of life left in October can fail by February simply because the cold pushed it past its limit.
Freeze-thaw cycles also affect lubrication. Standard lubricants thicken in cold temperatures, increasing friction on the spring coils with every movement. Over time, that friction compounds the wear.
Springs don't usually fail without warning. Here's what to pay attention to:
- The door feels heavier than usual when you try to lift it manually. This is one of the earliest signs a spring is losing tension. - Uneven movement. one side of the door rises higher or faster than the other. can indicate a spring on that side is weakening. - A loud bang from the garage, often compared to a gunshot, usually means a spring has snapped. If you hear this, stop using the door immediately. - Visible gaps in the spring coil. if you look at the torsion spring above your door and see a clear separation in the coils, it's broken. - Squeaking or groaning during operation that wasn't there before, especially in cold weather, suggests the spring and surrounding hardware need attention.
You can do a simple balance check at home: disconnect the opener using the emergency release cord, then manually lift the door to about waist height and let go. A properly balanced door stays put. If it falls or rises on its own, the springs aren't doing their job. For more on how your safety systems interact with the door's operation, our guide on safety reversal testing covers that ground well.
Torsion springs mount horizontally above the door on a metal shaft and work by twisting. They're more common in modern installations and generally last longer because the force is more evenly distributed through the coil. Most homes built in the Cle Elum area in the past 15 to 20 years will have torsion springs.
Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on either side of the door and work by stretching. They're older technology, often found in homes with lighter doors or those built before the mid-2000s. Extension springs wear out faster and are more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations. a real concern in a mountain climate.
If your home has extension springs and they're original to the structure, it's worth having them evaluated. They should also have safety cables running through them. if a spring snaps without a cable, the recoil can cause serious damage.
This is a firm line. Garage door springs are under extreme tension. several hundred pounds of stored force. A spring that releases unexpectedly during a DIY repair attempt can cause severe injury. This is a job for a trained technician with the right tools, full stop.
When one spring breaks on a two-spring system, the second one is usually not far behind. it's been running the same number of cycles under the same conditions. Most technicians, including our team at Ronald Garage Doors, will recommend replacing both springs at the same time. It costs less than two separate service calls, and you avoid being stuck with a broken door again in a few months. Visit our services page to learn more about spring replacement and what's involved.
If your springs are approaching the 7- to 10-year mark, or if you've noticed any of the warning signs above, don't wait for a cold morning emergency. A proactive inspection in late summer or fall. before temperatures drop. lets a technician identify springs that are close to failure and replace them on a schedule that works for you, not on a crisis timeline.
Emergency repairs during winter cost more and are harder to schedule. Planning ahead is almost always the smarter move. You can book a service call with us to get your springs and full system checked before the next cold snap.
For homeowners also thinking about what happens if the power goes out and your opener can't function, our post on battery backup systems is worth a read. especially in an area where winter storms along the Snoqualmie Pass corridor can knock out power unexpectedly.
Q: My spring just broke. Can I still use my garage door manually? A: Technically you can disengage the opener and lift it by hand, but a door without a working spring is extremely heavy. often 150 to 200+ pounds. and lifting it repeatedly risks injury and can damage other components. It's best to leave the door in place and call for repair as soon as possible.
Q: How long does a spring replacement take? A: In most cases, a single visit of one to two hours is all it takes. A technician will remove the old springs, install correctly sized replacements, test the door balance, and check the rest of the hardware while they're at it.
Q: Does the cold actually shorten how long springs last, or is that just a myth? A: It's real. Temperature fluctuations cause metal to repeatedly expand and contract, accelerating metal fatigue over time. Springs in unheated garages in cold climates genuinely wear faster than the same springs in milder environments. Regular lubrication. using a silicone-based product on the coils every few months. helps reduce this effect.