Is it the spring? Quick checks for Hunt Club homeowners
Hunt Club has every kind of garage: singles on townhouse rows, attached garages on semi-detached homes, and doubles on detached houses. The checks are the same for all of them:
- Look at the bar above the door. A torsion spring that has snapped shows a gap of a few centimetres between two coils.
- On older doors, look along the ceiling tracks. Extension springs run beside the horizontal tracks. A broken one hangs loose or has a hook that has snapped off.
- The opener hums or strains and the door rises a few inches before reversing.
- The door feels like it weighs a few hundred pounds after you pull the red emergency release cord.
- The top section is bowing where the opener arm connects, because the opener has been fighting the full weight.
Don’t try to wind or unhook a spring yourself. A torsion spring holds enough stored energy to break a wrist or worse. If the door is stuck partly open, put a clamp or locking pliers on the track under a roller if you can, keep people and pets clear, and call us.
Why springs break in Hunt Club
A neighbourhood built in the 1970s. Hunt Club was largely rural farmland in old Gloucester Township until Ottawa annexed it in 1950. Most of its homes went up from the 1970s on, and the area was planned as a bedroom community. By now, many garages have had their door, opener or springs swapped at least once, and often by different people. We regularly find mismatched springs on the same shaft, or springs that were sized for a lighter door than the one now hanging there.
Springs that wear out together. The photo above shows three springs that came off doors after years of use. Look at how evenly worn they are. When springs go into service on the same day, they reach the end of their cycle rating at about the same time. That’s why we look at every spring on the shaft, not just the broken one.
Rust from damp air. The Rideau River runs along Hunt Club’s west edge and the Sawmill Creek wetlands are part of its green space. Damp air, wet cars and road salt all leave moisture in an unheated garage. Rust on a spring creates friction between the coils and weak spots in the wire, and one of the springs in the photo shows exactly that. A rusty spring tends to break sooner than a clean one with the same number of cycles.
Older extension spring systems. Some doors from the area’s first build-out still use extension springs along the tracks. If yours does and there are no safety cables threaded through the springs, a snapped spring can whip across the garage. We fit safety cables on every extension spring job, or we can quote a conversion to torsion.
Torsion, extension, or a conversion?
| What you have | What we usually do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One torsion spring on a single door | Replace with a spring sized to the measured door weight | A single spring on a heavier door wears out early |
| Two torsion springs on a double door | Replace both as a matched pair | The second spring has done the same work and keeps the door balanced |
| Extension springs along the tracks | Matched pair with safety cables, or a quote to convert to torsion | Safety cables contain a spring if it snaps |
| Mismatched springs from earlier repairs | Replace the set with springs that match each other | Unequal springs pull the door out of balance |
We measure wire gauge, inside diameter and length, and weigh the door. A label on an old spring tells us what someone installed, not what your door actually needs. More on the two systems: torsion vs extension springs in Ottawa.
How the repair goes
- Inspection: springs, cables, drums, centre and end bearings, rollers, hinges and the opener.
- Written price that you approve before we start.
- Secure the door and unwind the old springs with proper winding bars.
- Install new springs sized to the door. If a cable or drum is damaged, we show you and price it before replacing it.
- Balance and test. The door should stay put when lifted halfway by hand. We then reset the opener’s force and travel limits, test the safety reverse, and lubricate the moving parts.
Most spring replacements take 30–60 minutes on site.
Spring replacement pricing in Hunt Club
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Torsion or extension spring replacement | $250–$350 per spring installed (parts and labour) |
| Seniors & veterans | 5% off |
| Warranty | 3 years, parts and labour |
There’s no travel charge anywhere in Hunt Club, from Riverside Drive east to the Airport Parkway and from the rail line south to Hunt Club Road. If a cable came off its drum when the spring broke, see cable repair in Hunt Club. Citywide details are on our garage door spring repair in Ottawa page.
Book same-day spring repair in Hunt Club
We’re open Monday–Saturday, 7 AM–6 PM, with 24/7 emergency service outside those hours. GDS is rated 5.0★ from 117 Google reviews. Call or text 343-777-8893, or book online.
Hunt Club services: Garage door repair in Hunt Club · Cable repair in Hunt Club · Openers · Book online
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