Torsion springs mount on a shaft above the door, last longer and control the door more evenly. Extension springs run along the tracks, cost less and are what older doors have.

Extension springs must have a containment cable threaded through them — without one a broken spring can travel across a garage. If yours has no cable, retrofit kits cost very little. Neither type should be adjusted by an owner; the stored energy is genuinely dangerous.

Related

• Extension springs with no cable running through them
• Opener with no photo-eye sensors near the floor
• Wooden door that sticks in humid weather and swings in dry
• Single-car opening retrofitted for an opener it was never built for
• Rot at the bottom of the door jamb
• Detached garage on its own service
• Door rises a foot then stops
• Loud bang from the garage with nothing visibly wrong

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Written by Jaylan Jones. I Like To Exterior Services earns a referral fee when a call connects to a contractor. See our business-model disclosure.