It always happens at the worst time. You press the button, hear a loud bang, and your garage door barely moves. A broken spring is one of the most common garage door failures — and one of the most stressful because you need your car out now.
The first question most homeowners ask is "how much is this going to cost?" Here's an honest breakdown from a locally owned New Hampshire garage door company.
At HighLevel Garage Doors, our $89 service call includes a complete tune-up and a written inspection report. If your springs need replacement, parts and labor are priced separately and added, and you approve the exact total in writing before any work begins. For most single-car garage doors, spring replacement runs $250–$350 on top of the service call. Larger two-car doors with heavier springs typically fall in the $300–$450 range. If you're replacing both springs at the same time (which we recommend), expect to be toward the higher end of those ranges.
Torsion springs are mounted horizontally above the garage door opening. They're the more modern, reliable option. At HighLevel, we install torsion springs rated for 40,000+ cycles — 4X the industry standard. Every torsion spring replacement comes with a 3-year warranty.
Extension springs run along the sides of the door tracks. They stretch and contract to lift the door. They're less expensive but have a shorter lifespan and are considered less safe than torsion springs. Extension spring replacements carry a 1-year warranty. If your door currently uses extension springs, we can discuss converting to torsion during the service call.
Almost always both. If your door has two springs and one breaks, the other has the exact same age and cycle count — it's living on borrowed time. Replacing both springs at once is more economical than paying for a second service call a few months later when the other one fails.
If you see a spring replacement advertised for $89 or $99, there's usually a catch. Some companies use the lowest-cost 10,000-cycle springs that will fail in a few years. Others quote a low price to get in the door, then upsell heavily once they're on-site. At HighLevel, the price we quote is the price you pay. No surprises, no pressure.
Yes. Garage door springs are under extreme tension — enough force to cause serious injury or death. This is not a DIY job. Even experienced handymen should leave spring replacement to trained, certified technicians with the proper tools and safety equipment.
Most spring replacements take 45–90 minutesfrom arrival to completion. We stock the most common spring sizes on our trucks, so the majority of replacements are completed on the first visit. If your door requires an uncommon size, we'll order it and schedule a follow-up — usually within 24–48 hours.