If the door feels like it's fighting you, or it slams down instead of lowering smoothly, the spring has gone.
Tap the one that matches what's happening:
A door that's suddenly heavy. By far the most common one. The spring counterbalances almost all of the door's weight, so when it weakens, you feel that weight directly in your arms, or the opener motor strains against it.
A loud bang, then nothing. Torsion springs fail suddenly rather than gradually, most people describe it as sounding like a gunshot from inside the garage. If this happens while the door's mid-cycle, leave it exactly where it is and call, don't try to force it either direction.
The door won't stay open. A spring that's lost some tension but hasn't fully failed can still lift the door partway before losing the fight, so it drifts back down on its own. This is an early warning sign worth acting on before it fails completely and takes something else with it.
Uneven movement. On doors with two springs, one failing while the other holds can make the door lift unevenly, one side rising faster than the other. That uneven load is hard on the tracks too, so it's worth fixing sooner rather than later.
Most modern up-and-over and sectional doors use a torsion spring mounted above the opening. Older or budget doors sometimes use extension springs along the tracks instead. The fix is broadly similar either way, but the spring has to match your door's weight and size exactly. Fit the wrong one and the door either won't balance properly or wears out again within months.
Manually, briefly, if you genuinely need the car out, yes, carefully. Using the electric opener is the one to avoid, the motor isn't built to lift the door's full weight and you risk taking it out along with the spring. If you can wait for an engineer, wait.
If your door has two springs and one has failed, we'll usually recommend replacing both. They're normally fitted at the same time and wear at a similar rate, so the second one is often close behind. It costs more upfront than replacing just the failed one, but it avoids a second callout a few months later for what's fundamentally the same job.
Confirm the spring type and the wire gauge your door actually needs.
Clamp it safely before releasing any tension, the part that isn't a DIY job.
Wound to the correct tension for your specific door.
Full cycle check before we leave, not just a single open-close.
A torsion spring is wound under serious tension to do its job. Loosen the wrong bolt and it can release with enough force to break a hand or worse. We're not saying that to upsell you, we're saying it because we've seen the injuries. This is the one repair on this site where "have a go first" genuinely isn't good advice, the tools alone (winding bars, proper clamps) cost more than most people expect and using the wrong ones is exactly how people get hurt. The Door & Hardware Federation, the UK trade body for garage door manufacturers and installers, publishes safety guidance covering exactly this risk.
A single spring replacement on a standard domestic door typically runs in the low hundreds, parts and labour included. Doors with two springs, or larger commercial-sized doors, cost more. See the full price breakdown or use the estimator there for a quick range.
Most are rated for 10,000–15,000 cycles, roughly 7-12 years of average household use, less if the door is used heavily.
We'd genuinely advise against it. The injury risk is real and the tools needed cost more than most people expect for a one-off job.
Sometimes, if the noise was caused by strain from the failing spring. Persistent noise after a spring replacement is usually rollers or hinges instead.
Most calls booked before early afternoon get a same-day slot. No callout fee if we carry out the repair.