How to Replace Garage Door Extension Springs - Guest Post Home Repair Tutor. Hey guys and gals, I have a special guest for you today! Today I have a real life Handy Man today. That’s right we’re bringing in a little testosterone to mix things up. This is Jeff aka Pretty Handy Man: Jeff writes Home Repair Tutor, a blog that shares tips on saving time and money when doing home repairs. He shares his experiences, both good and bad, to help you with what sometimes seems like overwhelming home repair projects. He also likes the Steelers, (I’m supposed to tell you that because guys find that stuff important.

So, if you hate the Steelers, boo on you. Can you tell I’m naive on how to talk sports?)Plus, he always adds a little humor to his videos. Don’t you just love a man who isn’t afraid to ride a pink bike?)I’ve been following Home Repair Tutor for a few months now and Jeff’s recent post about garage door maintenance saved me some cash. I had been trying to solve why my garage door was running so rough and had already replaced the rollers. But, Jeff had one tip that I had forgotten to do: Lubricate all the moving parts!

Duh, a few squirts of lubricant had the doors rolling smooth again. I hope you’ll check out his blog and follow along. You won’t be disappointed. So, today I give you handy man and comedian, Jeff from Home Repair Tutor! Woooohoo! Thanks Brittany for the opportunity to guest post on Pretty Handy Girl. You’ve set the bar high for home remodeling tutorials and I hope to empower your fans with another great DIY project.

But first let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Jeff Patterson and my remodeling blog is Home Repair Tutor. In my spare time I manage and fix my own older rental homes here in the Pittsburgh area. I’ve been doing this for almost a decade and have experienced numerous projects that include kitchen remodels, bathroom installations, hardwood floor restoration, and more.

1. Replacing broken torsion springs on a garage door.
2. Garage door spring replacements cost me less than $100 by doing it myself and only took me about 25 minutes. As far as I know, changing out the garage door springs.
3. Garage door springs offset the weight of the door and allow it to open and close with ease. A problem with the spring.
4. If your garage door is more than 20 years old, consider replacing it. DIYNetwork.com experts show you how to install a new garage door with these step-by-step.
5. Ordering USA-made garage door springs online has never been easier than DIY Garage Door Parts. For information, great prices, & fast shipping order today!

My goal is pass along all the tips and tricks that I’ve learned so others can benefit. Today’s post deals with a project that anyone can do: A squeaky garage door has a penetrating sound that can drive anyone crazy. The average garage door is opened and closed over 6.

This repetitive action is what leads to the creaks you hear on a daily basis. But regular maintenance can help your garage door run smoothly and safely. Two of the most used items on your garage door are the extension springs that help lift and lower it. Extension springs are found on most traditional roll up garage doors.

They’re dangerous if not properly maintained since they hold a tremendous amount of tension.(Pretty Handy Girl notes: Torsion springs are the other type of garage door springs. They run directly over the garage door opening on a rod. Serious injury can occur if you don’t know what  you are doing or have the right tools to replace a torsion spring. In my opinion, these should be left to the pros.)This tutorial will take the mystery out of how garage door extension springs work and will show you how to safely replace them on your own without spending a ton of money. By the end of this post you’ll confidently be able to perform this home repair project, and tell your neighbors you’re a garage door Jedi : ). Are Your Garage Door Springs Misbehaving? This tutorial is going to address garage door extension springs that run along the door’s horizontal track.

But how do you know if your springs need replaced? The picture below is a good example of what a spring looks like at the end of its life cycle. If this spring breaks it will release an extraordinary amount of tension that can be unleashed on a person or item in your garage. Another sign of worn springs is creakiness or uneven closure of your door. Bad springs can put pressure on the garage door rollers and cause them to screech. If one spring is bad but the other is in good shape the door may close unevenly, too. You’ll notice this if the door is closed and one side is higher than the other.

Extension springs are colored coded. In my case the springs had red paint sprayed just on one end, and this indicated that we had a 1. The picture below shows the wide range of springs you can buy. Now that you know how to choose your springs you can get started on your project. Become a Jedi of Garage Door Springs. But even Yoda would agree that safety comes first.

Completely open your garage door and unplug the power cord to the opener. Place a C- clamp on each track underneath the the bottom garage door roller. This will prevent the door from rolling down to the ground in the next step. For extra protection you can put a step ladder underneath the center of the door.

Pull down on the garage door’s manual safety release. This allows the garage door to be moved up and down without the help of the opener. The door weight should now rest on the C- clamps. This next step is a smart tip that will ensure your extension spring installation was done correctly.

Place a piece of blue painter’s tape on the garage door track underneath the pulley that’s attached to the extension spring. Then place a mark on the tape to indicate the center of the pulley’s bolt. Since the spring has no tension in it you can safely remove the steel safety cable that runs through it. This cable is in place so that if your garage door spring snaps it won’t shoot across the room and hurt someone.

The safety cable runs through the spring. It’s tied to the horizontal support bracket closest to the garage door opening on one end and is simply tied to the vertical support bracket on the other end. Before removing the safety cable from the support brackets you should take pictures of how it was tied together. This will help you when you have to re- tie it after the new extension spring is installed. I also numbered the holes on the vertical support bracket as 1 & 2 to help with this process. Since the steel safety cable will only need to be removed from the horizontal support bracket I also decided to make a reference mark on it.

Garage Door Extension Spring Install Video Card

This mark will allow you to reinstall the safety cable to how it was originally setup. The next step is to remove the garage door extension spring. There’s a steel cable connected to the bottom of your garage door. This cable runs over a stationary pulley that’s attached to your garage door track. This steel cable continues until it goes over and around a second pulley that’s attached to your extension spring via a pulley fork. The steel cable then is attached to the horizontal support bracket via an S- hook. This S- Hook is also attached to a three hole adjusting clip.

DIYNetwork.com has step-by-step instructions on how to install a garage door.

Mark where the S- hook was positioned on the support bracket then remove it. Now you need to disassemble the pulley that is connected to the spring. This is simple but again take a picture of your configuration for reference. Remember that the steel cable that runs from the bottom of the garage door goes over the top of the pulley then to the horizontal support bracket.

Precision Garage Door of Nashville TN and Surrounding Areas provides expert garage door spring repair. Torsion and Extension Spring specialists Nashville TN.

Get More Out Of Your Garage. Add different accessories to your RYOBI Replace broken extension springs on your garage door. Easy step-by-step instructions for the experienced or novice DIYer.

You’ll need two wrenches to undo the nut and bolt that hold the pulley to the pulley fork. Remove the pulley and pulley fork from the extension spring. The spring can now be taken off the eye bolt hanger. The eye bolt hanger is attached to the vertical support brackets that come down from the ceiling.

The picture below shows the old spring on the left and the new spring on the right. Is there any doubt the extension springs needed replaced? It’s easy but requires attention to detail. Attach the non- color coded end of the spring to the eye- bolt and run the steel safety cable through it. Pull the steel safety cable through the vertical support bracket. I labeled the two holes the steel cable will pass through. Hole 1 has the cable going through it right to left.

The cable should then pass through Hole 2 from left to right. A loop is created. Thread the cable back through this loop. Notice the black reference mark that was made on the cable. I used pliers to pull the wire tight such that this mark stops short of going through Hole 1. Pull the steel cable through the hole on the far side of the support bracket.

How to Replace Garage Door Extension Springs. Caution: Extension springs can be very dangerous. Replacing the pulleys must be done with the garage door open. Microsoft Sql Server Connection String Java.

Carefully follow all of the safety instructions in this tutorial. Always stay out of the path of extension springs when the garage door is operating or when the door is closed, assuming the cable or spring could break at any moment and the spring fly off and hit you. Let's begin. 1. Unplug the power cord to your garage door opener. If you have an older opener, you may need to remove a fuse or flip a circuit breaker. Disengage the opener from the door.

Some garage door openers have a neutral position for the trolley disconnect. On older openers you may need to remove the L- shaped drawbar arm. Weigh your garage door. This can still be done when only one extension spring is broken. You may need to use a 2x. Place scale under the garage door on the side of the door with the broken extension spring.

Do not use a digital scale, as they often will not respond to the door weight changing as rollers no longer stick to the track. This video will help you weigh a garage door with extension springs. Shake the garage door to loosen the rollers in order to get an accurate weight reading. NOTE: You will need to raise the opposite end of the garage door by the same height of the side with the scale under it by placing a brick, a piece of wood, or another object under the door on the side without the scale in order to get an accurate weight reading.

If the garage door itself is not level, you will not be able to get an accurate reading as the door may bind in the tracks. Since the extension spring on this door was broken on the left side, I weighed the door on the left side. This gives you half of the door weight.

If you read 1. 00 pounds on a scale using this method, your door actually weighs 2. Since extension springs are determined by how much weight they each lift and the pulley system cuts this in half, you need to replace your old springs with 2.

Caution: Do not try to remove the extension spring that is not broken when the garage door is closed. Move to the back of the garage where the broken extension spring is located. Pry open any eye- hook that secures the spring to the wall. It may be easier to remove the extension spring from the eye- bolt if you remove the bolt from the wall or angle iron. If the eye- bolt is secured to a piece of wood as shown, you may need to loosen the bolt on the other end in order to remove the extension spring. If you have a safety cable, loosen it from the wall or angle iron. Caution: this will allow the spring to fall to the floor, and it may hit your car or other possessions Hold on to the safety cable as you loosen it.

Remove the safety cable. Lower the broken extension spring, and hold on to it as you climb off of your ladder. Remove the broken extension spring from the safety cable. Examine your track and the support in the back.

If the angle iron is bent or not well- secured, you should follow the next few steps to replace it now. Remove the bolt securing the track to the angle iron. Remove anything that secured the safety cable to the angle iron or wall. Remove the old angle iron from the garage ceiling or wall.

Measure the distance from the center of the track (make sure that it is level!) to the location where you will secure the angle iron. With this measurement, cut a piece of angle iron to secure the track. Attach the angle iron to the track. Secure the bolt. 2.

Secure the angle iron to the wall or ceiling. Add another piece of angle iron. Reinstall the eye- bolt. Secure the eye- bolt to the angle iron.

You can use a screwdriver as shown to tighten the bolts. Open the garage door by hand. Lift from the side of the garage door that has the broken spring. This may be difficult with only one extension spring. You may need to have someone help you. Once you open the garage door, vise grip the track just below the bottom roller. Make sure that the vise grip will hold when you let go of the garage door.

Check your stationary pulley. Worn pulleys frequently accompany broken extension springs.

If your pulley is worn, you will need to replace it. Remove the bolts that secure the pulley to the track. Insert the bolt from the old pulley into the new pulley. Install the new pulley. Secure the bolts. If you decide to wait to replace your pulleys, you can find a tutorial here. If you need to replace your pulleys, though, it is a lot easier to do it now than to wait.

Examine your cable. If you realize between now and when you close your garage door that your cables are frayed, rusting, or damaged, you can still easily change your cables. If you need to replace the cables, remove the cable from the bottom fixture. You may need to use a screw driver to pry it off.

Pull the cable out from the garage door. Some older garage doors use a bottom fixture that has the cable built into it. In order to change the cables, you will have to replace your bottom fixtures. This is a bottom fixture that came off an old wooden door.

Follow the next few steps to change your bottom bracket. Remove the bolts that secure the bottom bracket to the garage door. Remove the bottom bracket from the door.

Using a vise grip, break off any bolts that do not come loose. Remove the bracket from the other side of the garage door. Place your new bottom bracket on the bottom of the garage door.

Pre- drill the door for the new carriage bolts. Insert the carriage bolts through the door from the outside. Tap the carriage bolt into the garage door with a hammer. Repeat this process on the other side of the door. Get your new extension spring cable. Remove the bottom brackets from the door.

Insert the look of the cable on the bracket as shown. Slide the roller from the old bracket on the new bracket.

Place the bracket back on the garage door. Secure the bracket with bolts. Repeat this process for the other bottom bracket. Remove the S- hook from the track. Remove the S- hook from the pulley that was attached to the extension spring. Disassemble the pulley. If necessary, replace this pulley as well.

Slide the pulley fork on the new extension spring. Slide the bolt back through the pulley and pulley fork. Black Duck Software Waltham Ma Restaurants. Secure this bolt. Slide the end of the extension spring in the eye of the eye bolt.

If your new extension springs have clips on them, the clips will be secured by the eye- bolt. Secure the eye- bolt with a vise grip. Your extension spring is now assembled. If you did not change your cables or if you replaced your bottom bracket, slide the cable over the stationary pulley as shown.

If you just replaced your cable, you may need to pinch cable. This is only necessary if you have a smaller slot on your bottom bracket. You can determine whether or not you need to pinch the cable by comparing the size of the loop to your old cable. After your cable is ready, install the loop on the bottom bracket. Slide the cable over the stationary pulley. Slide the end of the cable through the pulley that is attached to the hanging extension spring. Pull the end of the cable to the outside of the garage door toward the front as shown.

Pull on the cable until the extension spring lies above the track. Grab the cable at a point that is about three inches from the slot on the track where the S- hook used to be. It may be useful to vise grip the cable here. If you did not already remove this cable clip from your old cable, do so now.

You now need to tie the cable to the cable clip. Make a U with the cable as shown. If you vise gripped the cable, it should be touching the bottom of the clip. Slide the end of the cable through the side of the U as shown. Pull the cable tight. Slide the cable through the middle hole so that the new portion of cable is inside the loop formed in the previous few steps. Remove the vise grip from the cable.

Insert the cable in the bottom hole where the vise grip just sat. Pull the cable tight. Slide the S- hook through the other hole, and insert the S- hook in a hole in the track. Make sure that the cable passes over both pulleys.