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Garage door repair & replacement
A broken spring is a repair. A rusted-through bottom section and a forty-year-old opener is a replacement. We'll tell you which one you're looking at before we quote it — and we carry the common parts on the truck.
Never try to release, wind, or replace a torsion spring yourself. The spring above your door holds enough stored energy to break a wrist or worse, and it does not care that the door is already broken. If your door won't lift and you heard a bang, leave it closed, unplug the opener, and call us. If a cable has snapped, keep everyone out from under the door.
Repairs
What we fix
Most calls are one of six things, and most of them are same-day. We stock springs, cables, rollers, hinges, and the common opener parts, so the majority of repairs are finished on the first visit.
- Broken torsion or extension springs — the loud bang, the door that suddenly weighs 200 pounds
- Frayed or snapped cables — often shows as a door hanging crooked in the opening
- Worn rollers and hinges — grinding, squealing, a door that shudders on the way up
- Bent track and off-track doors — usually after a bumper meets the door
- Opener failure — stripped gears, dead logic board, remotes that stopped pairing
- Safety sensors — the door that reverses a foot before it closes
If a repair doesn't make sense, we say so. Putting a $400 spring on a door with a perforated bottom section is money you'll spend again next winter.
The decision
Repair or replace?
Honest version: here is what actually decides it. Any one item in the right column and replacement is usually the cheaper answer over five years.
| What's going on | Repair | Replace |
|---|---|---|
| Broken spring, panels straight | Yes | — |
| Frayed cable or worn rollers | Yes | — |
| Opener dead, door sound | Opener only | — |
| Bottom section rusted through | — | Replace |
| Two or more creased panels | — | Replace |
| Uninsulated, garage used in winter | — | Replace |
| Third repair in two years | — | Replace |
| No safety sensors at all | — | Replace opener |
New doors
What we install
Insulated steel is what goes on the overwhelming majority of Chicagoland garages, and for good reason: it's stiff, it doesn't dent easily, and the insulation is what keeps the bottom seam from icing.
- Standard sizes 8×7, 9×7, 15×7, and 16×7, plus custom openings
- Insulated steel from R-6 through R-18
- Short-panel, long-panel, and flush profiles; windows optional in the top section
- Clopay, Wayne Dalton, and Amarr
- New track, rollers, hinges, and weather seal with every door — we don't reuse old hardware
- Old door hauled away and recycled
Openers
We install LiftMaster and Genie. Belt drive is the default now — it's substantially quieter than chain, which matters if there's a bedroom over the garage. Wall-mount jackshaft openers free up the ceiling if you want overhead storage or a lift. Every opener we install includes photo-eye safety sensors and a rolling-code remote.
Rust starts at the bottom seam, not the surface. Salt-brine slush packs into the bottom section every winter and eats the steel from the inside of the seam outward. By the time you see rust bubbling through the paint, the section is usually perforated. Rinsing the bottom of the door a few times each winter genuinely extends its life.
A yearly service is about $120 and prevents most of the calls above. Balance check, spring adjustment, roller and hinge lubrication, sensor alignment, and force settings. Springs are rated in cycles, not years — a standard spring is roughly 10,000 open-and-close cycles, which is about seven years for most families and three for a busy one.
Cost
What it runs
Parts and labour, installed. Repairs are quoted before we start the work, not after.
Same-day and after-hours service is available. Emergency calls outside business hours carry a surcharge, quoted on the phone before we dispatch.
Questions
Garage door FAQ
My door won't open and there's a loud bang I heard last night. What happened?
Almost certainly a broken torsion spring. The bang is the spring letting go, and it's loud enough that people report it as a gunshot. The door will feel impossibly heavy afterwards because the spring — not the opener — carries the weight. Don't try to force it up and don't run the opener; you'll strip the gears or bend the track. This is a same-day repair for us.
Can I replace a garage door spring myself?
Please don't. A torsion spring on a standard two-car door holds enough stored energy to break bones, and winding bars slip. This is the single most common serious injury in this trade. It's an inexpensive repair done properly with the right tools.
Should I repair or replace?
Repair if the door panels are straight and solid and the problem is a spring, cable, roller, or opener. Replace if the bottom section has rusted through, if multiple panels are creased, if the door is uninsulated and you want the garage usable in winter, or if you're already stacking up a third repair in two years. We'll tell you which one you're looking at before we quote.
How long does a new door take to install?
A standard replacement is three to five hours, including hauling the old door away. If we're doing siding or a floor coating on the same visit, the door usually goes in first so the opening is finished before the trim goes on.
What size door do I have?
Most Chicago single-car garages are 8×7 or 9×7. Two-car garages are usually 16×7, sometimes 15×7 in older builds. Older alley garages occasionally have odd openings that need a custom door. Measure the opening itself, not the door, and we'll confirm on site.
Is an insulated door worth it?
If the garage is attached to the house or you use it as a workspace, yes. An insulated steel door with an R-value in the 9 to 18 range makes a noticeable difference in January and cuts road noise. If it's a detached garage you only park in, a non-insulated door is a reasonable place to save money — though insulated doors are also stiffer and dent less.
The door reverses before it closes. Is that broken?
Usually not. That's the safety sensors doing their job, and the cause is normally misalignment, a spider web, or road salt film on the lens. Wipe both lenses and check that the indicator lights are steady rather than blinking. If it still reverses, the down-force setting or the springs may need adjusting.