Why a Garage Door Should Never Feel Heavy

What causes it

These are the causes we find most often, in roughly the order we check them.

1. 1

   Springs have lost tension with age

   Every cycle takes a small amount out of a spring. After several thousand cycles the tension has dropped enough that the door no longer floats, and the weight starts landing on your arms and on the opener. It happens slowly, so most people do not notice until something else fails.

   What you can check

   Pull the release, lift the door to waist height and let go with your hands close by. A properly balanced door stays put. One that sinks, or one that takes real effort to get moving, has lost spring tension even if nothing is visibly broken.

   What we do

   We measure the door weight, work out the required tension, and either re-wind the existing springs where they still have life in them or replace the pair. Where the door runs many cycles a day we recommend high-cycle springs, which cost a little more and last considerably longer.

2. 2

   One spring of a pair has broken

   On a two-spring door, losing one leaves the other carrying a load it was never sized for. The door does not become impossible to lift, it becomes roughly twice as heavy, which is exactly the vague heaviness people describe when they call us.

   What you can check

   Look along the shaft above the opening and compare the two springs. A gap of 50 to 100mm in one coil, or one spring that looks noticeably more relaxed than its partner, is your answer. Look only, and do not touch either of them.

   What we do

   We replace both springs rather than just the failed one, because the survivor has done identical work and sits at the same point in its life. We then re-balance the door and check the cables and drums, which often take damage in the moment a spring lets go.

3. 3

   The door has gained weight

   Springs are sized to a specific door weight. Add an insulation kit, a second skin, a heavy repaint, or let a timber door soak up a wet winter, and the springs are suddenly undersized. The door was fine for a decade and then gradually was not.

   What you can check

   Think about what has changed. A new coat of paint, an insulation retrofit, a panel replaced in a heavier material, or timber swelling in a garage with poor drainage are the usual culprits. Timber doors feel noticeably heavier after a run of wet weather.

   What we do

   We re-weigh the door and fit springs sized to what it actually weighs now, rather than what it weighed when it was installed. On timber doors we also look at where the water is getting in, because a door that keeps soaking up moisture will keep breaking springs.

4. 4

   Springs undersized from the original install

   Cheap builds sometimes leave the factory with springs at the bottom of the acceptable range, or with a single spring where a pair belongs. The door works, but everything from the springs to the opener gear runs at its limit from day one and the door never feels light.

   What you can check

   Count the springs and note the door width. A door wider than about 3.6 metres, or an insulated or timber-look panel door, running on a single spring is a strong indicator. So is a door that has needed new springs more than once in ten years.

   What we do

   We recalculate from the measured weight and fit the correct configuration, converting to a matched pair where a single spring is doing the work of two. It makes the door lighter by hand, safer when a spring eventually goes, and considerably easier on the opener.

5. 5

   Cables wrapped unevenly on the drums

   If the cables do not wrap the same number of turns, one side lifts ahead of the other. The door twists slightly in the tracks and binds against them. That binding reads as weight in your hands even when the springs themselves are perfectly healthy.

   What you can check

   Look at the gap along the top of the door when it is closed, and at the bottom rail against the floor. A wedge-shaped gap at either means the sides are out of step. Note whether the door feels heavier at one particular point in the travel.

   What we do

   We reset both drums to matched wraps, replace cables that have stretched, and re-square the door in the opening. Then we test the balance at the top, at waist height and near the floor, because a door can be balanced at one point and badly out at another.

6. 6

   Seized rollers and dry hinges adding drag

   Friction is not counterbalanced by anything. Collapsed roller bearings, dry hinge knuckles and a track full of grit add enough drag to make a properly sprung door feel heavy. It is the cheapest of the causes and the one most often overlooked.

   What you can check

   Run the door slowly by hand and feel for rough spots. Look for rollers that skid rather than spin, hinges that squeal, and grit built up in the tracks or roller door guides. A door heavy everywhere is springs; a door heavy in patches is friction.

   What we do

   We replace rollers with nylon-tyred units on sealed bearings, lubricate hinges and the rail with a dry silicone that does not attract sand, and clean out the tracks and guides. On many doors this alone takes a noticeable amount of effort out of the lift.