Broken garage doors can be fatal.

Before you try opening your garage door on your own, you better make sure you know what you’re doing. The average single car garage door weighs roughly 130 pounds, whereas a double car garage door can weigh as much as 225 pounds! One wrong move when you’re trying to raise your door, and you could over a hundred pounds of steel slamming down on your hands.

To help you stay safe, we’ve created this short DIY guide to show you how to open a garage door with a broken spring. We’ll also give you a few tips to help you determine whether or not it’s the spring that’s broken!

Read on to learn how to deal with a broken garage door the right way.

Diagnose the Problem

Before you learn how to open a garage door with a broken spring,p you’ll first need to determine whether or not it’s the spring that’s broken. Sometimes, a garage door that won’t open or close, is the result of another problem. For instance, if you’re opener isn’t plugged in, or the door’s off the track, the garage door could become stuck open or closed.

Another issue you could be dealing with is dirty photo-eye. By simply cleaning off the photo eye, and resetting the remote, you should be good to go!

Signs of a Broken Spring

How can you tell if it’s the spring that’s broken, and not something else? One way to tell is if you can hear your opener motor working, and straining to lift the door, yet the door doesn’t budge.

Finally, if you heard a loud popping sound when you tried to open the door, it was probably the spring breaking. Thankfully sites like https://diy-garage-door-parts.com/, offer a variety of springs so you can fix the door on your own.

Don’t Use Your Opener Remote

Once you’re positive you’re dealing with a broken spring, you must avoid using your opener. Even if you have an extra-strong opener, trying to use it when the springs are broken can cause all sorts of problems. For instance, you could wind up destroying the door panels by crumpling them together.

You could also wind up stripping the gears in your opener, ruining it for good. Next, trying to use the opener could burn out its motor, or bed the rails. Lastly, in extreme cases, the opener could pull itself off the ceiling!

Opening Garage Doors With Torsion Springs

Moving on, since you can’t use your opener at all, you’ll need to rely on physical strength. However, it’s worth noting that garage doors are very heavy. If you’re not careful, you could wind up injuring yourself, while also destroying your door in the process. To make things as safe as possible, you’ll need to ask a friend to help you bear the weight of the door. trying to lift it.

Next, pull the red cord to disconnect the door from the opener. Now that the door’s disengaged from the opener, you and your helper can stand at opposite ends of the door. Squatting down, while facing the door, firmly grasp the bottom of the door. Take your time as you get a good grip, and remember to breathe.

Holding your breath when you’re lifting could strain your muscles. Once you and your helper have a solid handle of the door, count down from 3 and begin lifting at the same time. As you work to push the door up, you’ll need to do the lifting with your knees. Whenever you’re lifting something, no matter how heavy it is, lift with your knees, not your back.

Instead, stay in the squatted position, slowly rising and unbending your knees as the door goes up. Continue lifting the door until it’s completely raised along the horizontal rails. If at any point you feel the door’s too heavy, let your partner know you need to stop. You should never push yourself when something too heavy since this can cause injuries as well.

Opening Garage Doors With Extension Springs

Are you dealing with a broken garage door that has extension springs? If so, you’ll want to follow all of the steps we just went over for doors with torsion springs. However, there will be a few minor alterations. For instance, after you disengage the garage door from the opener, you’ll also need to put crowbars under the door.

The crowbars will give you and your helper the leverage you need to make the door start to move. After the door’s in the up position, you’ll need to use a strong vice clamp to keep it up. You should attach the vice clamps on the lowest roller of the door. Lastly, play it safe by putting a ladder under the door to hold it up. The vice clips will help, but if they fail the ladder will be there to save the day.

Avoid Future Problems

Rust likely caused your spring to break in the first place. If you have an older garage door with 1 torsion spring, all it takes is 1 snap and you’re door’s stuck closed. Thankfully, if you regularly lubricate the springs on your garage door, you can usually keep rust at bay. You should also regularly clean the door tracks to keep them clear of dirt and grime.

Know-How to Open a Garage Door With a Broken Spring

Now you know how to open a garage door with a broken spring. However, remember that other issues can cause your garage door to be stuck closed.

Go ahead and inspect the door today to see if it’s really the spring or something else like a dirty photo-eye. Once you’re positive it’s the spring you need to replace, go ahead and recruit a lifting helper!

By working together to bear the weight of the door, you’ll have access to your garage in no time. For more tips like these, explore the rest of this site.