Garage Door Spring Replacement Cost in 2026: What You'll Actually Pay
Updated 2026-06-10
Expect $150 to $350 to have one garage door spring replaced professionally, parts and labor included, with most jobs landing around $250, according to Angi's 2026 cost data. HomeGuide prices a matched pair of torsion springs at $200 to $350 installed, and replacing both at once is usually the right call. For a standard two-car door, a realistic all-in budget is $200 to $500.
That is the honest number. Hold onto it, because garage door repair has a well-earned reputation for quoting $99 on the phone and $1,100 in your driveway. More on that below. First, run your own door through the estimator.
Estimate your spring replacement cost
Torsion vs. extension: which spring you have changes the price
Torsion springs mount on a bar above the door opening and twist to lift it. Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on either side and stretch. Most doors built in the last couple of decades use torsion springs; older or budget installs use extension.
Torsion costs more. HomeGuide puts a single torsion spring at $140 to $270 installed versus $120 to $160 for a single extension spring, and the part itself carries a premium too: $30 to $70 against $20 to $40. What the extra money buys is life. Torsion springs typically last 8 to 15 years against 7 to 12 for extension springs, figures Angi and This Old House both publish. If a tech suggests converting from extension to torsion while everything is apart, that is one of the few upsells with a real case behind it. HomeGuide prices the conversion at $200 to $500 per door.
Cost table: spring type, quantity, DIY vs. pro
| Job | DIY (parts only) | Professional (installed) |
|---|---|---|
| Extension spring, single | $20 to $40 | $120 to $160 |
| Extension springs, pair | $30 to $50 | $160 to $200 |
| Torsion spring, single | $30 to $70 | $140 to $270 |
| Torsion springs, pair | $50 to $100 | $200 to $350 |
Every figure above comes from HomeGuide's 2026 cost tables, which split each job into parts and labor. Labor is the bulk of any pro bill: $100 to $250 of those two-spring totals is the technician's time, even though the swap itself takes 30 minutes to an hour. This Old House's Homewyse-sourced numbers run higher, $300 to $540 for a professionally installed set, which is worth knowing if you live somewhere expensive.
Where you live moves the numbers. Angi notes that labor rates climb in big metro areas and high-cost states, while rural markets often tack on a trip fee instead. That is all the cost-area selector in the estimator does: it nudges the same national ranges up or down rather than pretending to know your ZIP code.
A worked example
A homeowner with a 16-foot two-car door hears a bang in the garage and finds one torsion spring separated. The sane repair is both springs, since the unbroken one has the same mileage and will fail soon anyway.
- A pair of mid-grade torsion springs: about $80 in parts
- Labor plus the service call: about $200
Total: roughly $280, right in the middle of HomeGuide's $200 to $350 range for a torsion pair. If the tech also finds a frayed lift cable, cables alone run $80 to $185, but bundled with springs the whole package lands at $200 to $500, per HomeGuide. A strained opener is a separate problem entirely; This Old House prices opener replacement at $430 to $730. Those add-ons are legitimate when you can see the fraying or hear the motor struggle. They are also the exact line items scammers pad, so ask to be shown the damage.
The DIY reality check
The parts are cheap and the video tutorials are everywhere, so it is tempting. Here is the problem: a wound torsion spring is holding the tension needed to lift a door that can weigh 300 to 450 pounds on a double garage, per This Old House, and it releases all of it instantly if a winding bar slips. You are on a ladder, next to your car, working on a steel coil under load. HomeGuide notes that home improvement stores often decline to sell springs directly to homeowners for exactly this reason.
Extension springs are less dramatic to replace, but only if the safety cables running through them are intact. A snapped extension spring without a safety cable becomes a projectile, which is why This Old House's Tom Silva describes the cable as there "to keep it from flying away and getting anybody hurt."
If you have real mechanical experience and proper winding bars (not screwdrivers), doing a torsion pair yourself saves roughly $150 to $250 in labor. For everyone else, this is one of the rare home repairs where the pro premium is mostly a safety fee, and it is worth paying.
5 signs a spring is failing
- The door feels heavy. Springs do the lifting, not the opener. If manual lifting suddenly takes real effort, the springs have lost tension.
- A visible gap in the coil. A broken torsion spring separates, leaving a gap of a few inches you can see from the garage floor.
- A loud bang from the garage. The classic. A snapping spring sounds like a firecracker or a slammed door.
- The door rises crooked or the cables hang slack. One weak spring lifts one side less, which cocks the door in its tracks.
- The opener strains, or the door slams shut. A motor that groans, stops partway, or lets the door fall the last few feet is compensating for dead springs.
If the spring has already broken, stop using the opener. HomeGuide warns that forcing it can burn out the motor, strip a gear, or bend the rail, turning a $300 repair into a much bigger one. If the motor itself is the casualty, see the garage door opener cost guide.
How to avoid the "$99 special" bait-and-switch
Garage door repair is a notorious bait-and-switch market, and the pattern is consistent across consumer warnings published by established door companies in Utah, Washington, Texas, and Florida. It works like this: a company advertises spring replacement or a "tune-up" for $49 to $99. The tech arrives, then announces your cables, drums, bearings, and rollers all need replacement too, or that the door has structural problems, and the invoice lands at $600 to $1,500. The advertised price was never real; it existed to get a salesperson into your driveway.
Defenses, in order of usefulness:
- Get a phone quote for the full job. A legitimate company can price a spring replacement within $50 to $100 over the phone once you tell them the door size and spring type. "The tech has to see it first" is the tell.
- Ask for the total, not the service fee. "$99" often turns out to be the trip charge, not the repair.
- Call two or three companies. The scam operations count on panic. Your car will survive one day in the driveway.
- Ask to see any additional broken part before approving it. Worn rollers and frayed cables are visible. "Worn bearings" you cannot see and cannot verify are the most commonly invented item.
- Check how long the company has existed. Lead-gen fronts with rented phone numbers rebrand constantly; a shop with a decade of local reviews has something to lose.
Read any warranty before you lean on it. HomeGuide flags a "lifetime warranty" variant of the scam that quietly requires paid annual maintenance to stay valid, and some warranties cover the spring but not the labor to install it. While you are asking, price high-cycle springs: at $55 to $95 they cost more than standard hardware but last two to three times longer, per HomeGuide, a worthwhile upgrade if the garage is your home's main entrance. And if the door itself is 15 to 20 years old with several parts failing at once, compare against the cost of replacing the whole door before pouring money into repairs.
What people ask about spring replacement
How much does it cost to replace a garage door spring?
$150 to $350 per spring installed, with a national average around $250, according to Angi. HomeGuide's tables run $120 to $160 for a single extension spring and $140 to $270 for a single torsion spring. Doing both springs in one visit brings a torsion pair to $200 to $350 total.
Should I replace both garage door springs if only one broke?
Almost always yes. Both springs have the same cycle count, so the survivor usually fails within months, and paired springs keep the door balanced. HomeGuide and This Old House both recommend replacing them together, and the second spring adds far less than a whole new service call later.
Is it safe to replace a garage door spring yourself?
Torsion springs are the most dangerous DIY repair in the average garage. The wound coil stores the energy needed to lift a door that can weigh 300 to 450 pounds, per This Old House, and releases it instantly if a winding bar slips. Extension springs are more approachable but still require the door to be secured and safety cables in place. Parts run $20 to $100 per spring, per HomeGuide, if you proceed anyway.
How long do garage door springs last?
Torsion springs typically last 8 to 15 years and extension springs 7 to 12, per Angi and This Old House. Use shortens that fast: HomeGuide's cycle tables show a standard 10,000-cycle spring lasting 14 years at two cycles a day but about 3.5 years at eight. High-cycle springs cost $55 to $95 and last two to three times longer.
Find a spring tech before the door gets worse
Local techs, honest pricing, no pressure on the phone.Get a real quote
This page may earn a small fee if you request a quote, at no extra cost to you.