The Costs and How Much You Should Charge for Garage Door Spring Repair
As a garage door repair company owner, offering competitive prices for garage door repairs can help you stand out. However, it’s important to price your jobs fairly to cover your costs and generate enough profits to keep growing your business.
Broken garage door springs are an issue you’ll run into regularly. Let’s take a closer look at the average cost to repair garage door springs so you can charge a fair price for this job.
What Happens When a Garage Door Spring Breaks?
As a professionally trained technician, you know how heavy garage doors can be. It’s not unusual to see steel doors that weigh over 100 lbs.
Garage doors need a spring system to open and close safely. The purpose of the springs is to control the speed at which the door closes or opens while counterbalancing its weight.
A broken garage door spring will often cause the door to come crashing down when closing it. Garage door spring replacement is a safety issue and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
In some cases, a broken spring can also cause a door to open partially or to look crooked. Homeowners will sometimes hear unusual noises when operating a door with a broken spring. In the case of extension springs, your customer should be able to see the broken spring hanging on the side of the door.
What Causes a Garage Door Spring to Break?
Wear and tear is the most common cause behind broken garage door springs. Even though these springs can pack hundreds of pounds of pressure, they will eventually fail after years of use.
Having the wrong spring for the weight of the door can also cause a spring to snap under the pressure.
A Garage Door Spring Breaking – Caught on a Security Camera
If a garage door sits for a while without proper maintenance, rust can appear on the springs and make them more likely to break.
It’s always a good idea to inspect the springs when performing a garage door repair or during a routine maintenance call. Look for signs of rust and wear and tear.
Educate homeowners about how dangerous a broken spring can be. With 30,000 annual injuries linked to garage doors, it’s best to recommend a spring replacement before this part breaks. You can also educate customers about the cost of a replacement and compare it to the average cost to repair garage door springs.
The Dangers of DIY Garage Door Spring Repairs
Another thing you can educate your customers about is the importance of having a professional repair a broken garage door spring.
Unsafe garage door practices such as removing a broken spring that still packs some pressure can lead to serious injuries and even death.
It’s also important to remind your customers that their garage door can weigh over 100 lbs. Without a properly adjusted spring to control the door movements, operating the opening system can be dangerous.
Plus, fixing a broken garage door spring requires some specific tools that the average homeowner doesn’t have. You’ll need a winding bar to adjust the tension in the spring, some vice grips to attach the cables, and more.
How to Calculate Your Garage Spring Repair Cost
You should consider the following factors when calculating your garage door repair cost.
Lead Generation
How do customers typically hear about your business? If you’re an established contractor who relies on word-of-mouth marketing, your average lead generation cost should be low.
However, as a new contractor, your primary lead generation channel might be PPC ads, social media, or content marketing.
Keep track of your marketing costs, calculate your average cost per lead, and include this cost in your final quote.
Driving
Did you know that contractors drive 75 miles a day on average? These miles are a tax-deductible expense, but you should still charge a service fee that reflects how far and how long you had to drive.
Don’t hesitate to recalculate this fee quarterly as gas prices fluctuate.
Labor
Repairing a broken garage door spring should take a few hours, but you also need to account for the time you spend driving to the customer’s house. Plus, you might have to invest some time in talking with the customer over the phone to provide them with a quote.
If you’re not performing the repairs yourself, count on spending an average of $39 per hour to cover wages and benefits.
Parts
A significant portion of the repair cost will come from parts. A garage door replacement spring can range anywhere from $30 to $100, but you should count on spending up to $300 for a commercial garage door spring.
If you need to replace the shaft for a garage door torsion spring, count on spending an additional $30 to $70 on parts. You might also need to replace rusted bearing plates.
Inspect the door for other damaged parts. Automatic garage doors can sustain additional damage if the customer keeps opening the door with a broken spring.
If the broken spring caused significant damage to the door, you can discuss a new garage door installation with the customer. This project can range anywhere from $500 to $3,000 depending on the size of the door.
Time Constraints
A broken garage door spring is a safety risk. Most customers will need to schedule a service call as soon as possible.
You can justify charging an additional fee for a same-day repair or for fixing a broken spring outside of regular business hours.
Profit Margin
Don’t forget to factor in your profit margin when putting together a quote. Most contractors aim for an 8 to 15% profit margin.
Your profit margin can be money that you pay to yourself as a salary or that you reinvest to grow your business.
Total Cost
The average cost to repair garage door springs is somewhere between $150 and $350. Find out what other contractors in your area charge for this type of repair so you can offer competitive prices.
Different Types of Garage Door Springs
You’ll come across extension and torsion springs when working on garage doors. The type of spring can influence the cost of a repair.
Extension Springs
Extension springs or stretch springs fully extend to support the weight of a closed garage door and retract to help open the door.
You’ll find these springs mounted along the horizontal tracks of the garage door. You’ll have to attach one end to the door and the other to the pulley system.
The good news is that these springs are easy to maintain and cost less to replace. However, extension springs go through more wear and tear.
You can typically find new springs in the $50 range. However, prices can vary depending on the loop system.
You can use an extension spring with a single loop for a lightweight door, but you’ll have to spend more to get a spring with double-closed loops or clipped ends for a heavy door.
Torsion Springs
Instead of expanding, torsion springs use a circular motion to coil around a winding cone. You’ll find these springs installed on the ceiling above the door to counterbalance the weight of the door and reduce wear and tear on the door opener.
You’ll typically find a torsion spring on garage doors that weigh over 150 lbs. Torsion springs can cost $100 each and take longer to replace since they are more difficult to access.
Garage Door Torsion Spring Replacement
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Replace Just One Garage Door Spring?
No.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eGarage door springs rarely break at the same time, but it’s best to replace both.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eA broken spring means the other one is carrying more weight if the homeowner is still using the door. It’s best to replace the other spring since this additional wear and tear can make it unreliable.u003cbru003eu003cbru003ePlus, garage door springs often break when they approach the end of their lifespan. If one spring snapped, the other is likely close behind.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eIt’s also best to replace both springs so you can properly balance the door and reduce wear and tear on other parts.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eNote that not all torsion spring systems use two springs. You’ll typically find two torsion springs on double-wide garage doors.
How Much Does It Cost to Replace Both Springs?
A single torsion spring costs around $100. You should count on spending $200 to replace two springs.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eExtension springs are more affordable. You can get a pair for around $100 or less.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eReplacing both springs should take more than a couple of hours. Replacing the second spring should only increase your quote by $50 to $100.
How Often Should You Replace Garage Door Springs?
u003cbru003eIt depends on the type of spring and how often the customer uses the door. The weight of the door can also play a part.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eAn extension spring will typically last 10,000 cycles. If the customer uses the door twice a day, the spring should last 13 years.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eTorsion springs can last over 20,000 cycles. It means a new spring should last 20 years if the customer uses the door twice a day.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eHowever, some factors can reduce the lifespan of a garage door spring. Rust is a common issue, but some springs can fail due to a cold and humid environment or an imbalanced door.
