One of the most important parts of the garage door that plays an important role in the opening and closing of a garage door is the garage door spring. Once the springs break, it becomes very difficult to open since the doors don’t respond to the garage door opener.
If you are stuck inside the garage when the springs break or have any other emergencies, you need to know how to open a garage door with broken springs.
If you have to open a garage door with broken springs, make sure you don’t do it alone, since the weight of the door can be too much for you. Next, you need to detach the door from the garage door opener. Then you need to lift the door and clamp it in its place with a ladder or any other support.
Let’s take a deeper look at how you can open a garage door that has broken springs.
How to know if your garage door springs are broken
Now you know how to open a garage door manually with a broken spring, you need to know how you can know if your garage door has broken springs in the first place. There could be a lot of other reasons why your garage door might not be opening.
Here are the signs that will tell you if your garage door has broken springs.
- You can see the broken spring from outside.
- If you are there when the spring breaks, you will hear a loud popping noise.
- Your garage door will refuse to open, even when the garage door opener motor is running.
Can I open my garage door with a broken spring?
Garage doors, depending on the material they are made of, can weigh more than 100 Kg. These heavy doors are supported by different types of springs, either torsion or extension springs, which wind up as the door opens. If these springs break, they won’t wind up, and the door will not open.
Because of the weight of the doors, it then becomes too difficult to open the door via manual methods.
So, can you open a garage door with a broken spring? Yes, theoretically you can do it. But should you open the garage door with broken springs? Until you have extreme emergencies, you should not do so. And the emergency doesn’t include getting your lawn mower out or getting a six-pack of beer for the BBQ party.
Now, suppose you need to get your car out or get in the garage, and you see your garage door isn’t opening due to a broken spring.
You can follow the steps for opening a garage door with a broken spring to get out of this pickle.
1. Get another person to help you
This is very important that you do not, and we repeat, DO NOT attempt to open a garage door with broken springs only by yourself. No matter how much you think that you can handle the door’s weight, you need another person to help you with the other steps of opening the garage door.
So, if possible, get a friend or a family member to help you open the door.
2. Disconnect the door from the opener
One of the biggest mistake people make when opening a garage door with broken garage springs is keeping the garage door opener running while they try to open the door. If you do so, you not only will risk damaging more parts of the garage door, but you can also cause serious accidents.
The correct way to go about it is to disconnect the garage door from its opener. It is very easy to do so, as all garage doors have an emergency release cord hanging from their tops. Pull it towards the inside of the garage to disconnect the garage door opener from the door.
3. Lifting the door
The next step in our ‘how to open garage door when spring is broken’ guideline is lifting the door. Now, how you can lift the door will depend on two things: the weight of the door and how many springs it has. If the door is small and only has one spring, you can lift the door yourself by standing down in the middle of it.
Once you position yourself at the center of the door, sit down and put your hand under the door, and lift the door up by keeping your back absolutely straight. This way the weight of the door will be evenly distributed across your back and you won’t be hurt.
If the garage door is small and has one garage door spring broken on one side, then lift the door from the side which has its spring broken.
Now, if the door is large, it will definitely have more than one spring. Then both you and the other person will have to lift both sides of the door simultaneously. Once the door is up, it will not remain that way because the springs are broken and they can’t support the weight of the door. This is why you have to prop the door in its place with support to keep it open.
When you are opening the door, you have to take care of a couple of things. First, you must not put your fingers between the sections of the garage door.
Next, you shuls lift the door keeping your knees apart and your back straight. Failing to do so will put enormous stress on your back.
4. Calling a professional
Once you get the door open and have done what you needed to do, don’t try to do anything with the door and call a professional to replace the broken springs. You should not try to replace the broken torsion or extension spring by yourself.
We, at Infinity garage doors, provide top-quality garage door repair services, including broken spring replacement.
Final Words
Homeowners face a lot of issues with garage doors, one of which is when the door won’t open due to broken springs. Although it is not recommended to do so, knowing how to open a garage door with broken springs will help you a lot in emergencies. So, make sure you have someone to help you when you open a garage door with broken springs.
FAQ’s
1. Can a garage door work without springs?
No, a garage door can not work without springs. This is because garage door springs play the most vital part in keeping the garage doors opened and closed by acting as counterbalances.
2. How do you open a broken garage door from the outside?
Opening a broken garage door from the inside is easier than opening it from the outside. If you are locked out of the garage and want to open it from outside, you need to locate the emergency release kit.
Then put the key in its appropriate place and engage the release mechanism. Then lift the garage door until the door stops moving.
3. Can you manually pull down a garage door?
Yes, you can pull down a garage door manually. For this, you need to detach the garage door from the opener. Then you can pull the door manually.
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