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A garage door is one of the most useful additions to your home.
It serves as an entryway to your household and houses in things inside your garage.
It’s in the best interest of your home to keep the garage door fully functional.
Sometimes, instances occur that could lead to malfunctioning of the garage door.
One of the most common ways it will happen is when the springs don’t work well.
As a garage door weathers and ages over time, its parts will slowly lose their original condition.
The thing is, you may barely observe or know when this happens as the spring is not something easy to see in your garage.
It is usually on the top part of the garage, responsible for an easy open or close.
This assures that you can lift and lower down the garage door without difficulty.
Let this guide you in how to select garage door springs for your garage door.
Types of garage door spring
There are two general types of garage door springs.
The one in your garage right now can be one of these two types.
Torsion springs
The torsion springs are springs directly on top of the garage door.
As this spring works with torque force stored within the coils, the coils are initially stiff.
When your garage door is closed, you will have closed springs.
As you lift the garage doors, the springs uncoil to use the stored energy ready to lift the panels.
Extension springs
The extension springs are in the headroom of the garage.
They are parallel to the garage door opener.
When your garage door is closed, the extension springs extend with uncoiled coils.
The tension force keeps the door in its position; the force necessary to lift the door decreases as the garage door opens up.
The first step in how to select garage door springs is to determine the type that’s in your garage.
When you select a new spring for your garage door repair, you can already narrow it down accordingly.
Selecting the best garage door spring
The most important aspect of how to select garage door springs is getting the right size.
Get the necessary tools like a caliper, tape measure, micrometer, and weighing scale.
Follow these steps so you can choose the right one to replace your old spring.
Choosing a torsion spring
- Keep the torsion springs in a relaxed state.
- Determine the length of the torsion spring by measuring it from the first coil to the end coil.
- Find the wire size or the thickness of the torsion spring. Measure the length of the first twenty coils, and then divide the length by twenty to know how thick each coil is.
- Is your spring right-wind or left-wind? For springs with clockwise coiling endpoints, you have a left-wind spring. For springs with counter-clockwise coiling endpoints, you have a right-wind spring.
- Measure the inside diameter of the coils. Take a tape measure or caliper and align it in the middle of the inside of the coil.
- When you select the next torsion spring, take these measurements with you to the store. The next torsion spring should have the same specifications as your measurements.
Choosing an extension spring
- Keep the extension spring in a relaxed condition.
- Know the weight of the garage door by weighing it using a bathroom scale. Make sure the door is not supported by any spring so you’ll know the full weight.
- It’s time to measure the extension spring itself. Measure the body length starting from the beginning to the end. Don’t include the hooks and the loops.
- Measure the inner diameter of the coil. Take the measurement twice and get the average.
- Measure the outer diameter of the coil, end to end.
- Get the overall length of the extension spring. This, now, includes the hooks and the loops of the extension spring.
- Choose an extension spring that supports the weight of the garage door.
Measure the sizes accurately.
As the foundations of your garage are already set in place, you need to have springs that fit the parts perfectly.
Book your spring replacement appointment with us!
Your garage door spring can get destroyed at any time.
There’s no way to tell when exactly it will snap out of place or get loose coils that hinder its function.
When that time happens, there’s no better way to replace the springs than by calling us.
We are GDR Los Angeles and we offer garage door installations and garage door repair services.
Call us for fast and efficient garage door spring replacement.
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