How Long It Takes
A single broken torsion spring on a standard two-car door is usually a same-visit repair once we're on site. The shaft has to come down enough to pull the old spring off the winding cone, and the new one has to be wound to the right turn count for that door's weight - that part takes patience, not speed, because an under-wound spring will slam the door and an over-wound one will fight the opener. We travel from Duncanville, about 9 miles to most points in Lancaster, so factor that into when we can get there rather than how long the repair itself runs. If both springs are original to the house, we'll say so and give you the option to do both while the shaft's already down - waiting on the second one just means a callback later for a spring that's the same age as the one that just broke.
What the Fix Involves
We pull the panel or clip that shields the spring, clamp the shaft so the door can't drop while it's unloaded, and unwind the broken spring off the winding cone in controlled turns - this is the step that hurts people who try it without the right bars, so we don't rush it. The new torsion spring gets matched to the door's actual weight and the drum size on that shaft, not just swapped one-for-one, because a 1990s door that's been repainted or had a heavier insulated panel added later can weigh more than its original spec. Once it's wound to the correct number of turns, we check the cable drums are seated evenly on both sides, lubricate the bearing plates, and cycle the door by hand before we ever touch the opener - a spring that's wound right but installed with the shaft slightly out of level will still bind on one track.
How to Book
Call and tell us it's a broken spring - if you can, note whether it's a one-car or two-car door and roughly how old the house is, since that tells us which spring size to load before we leave Duncanville for the 9-mile drive out. Don't try to open the door manually if a torsion spring has snapped; a door that heavy with no spring tension can drop hard and the cables can whip loose. Leave it closed, keep the opener off, and give us the address so we can bring the right parts the first time instead of guessing at the size on site.
Parts We Carry
We carry the standard torsion springs that fit the 16x7 and 9x7 sectional doors common to the 1980s-90s housing stock across this service area, matched to the winding cone and drum sizes that go with those doors. We also carry the cables, bearing plates, and winding cones that usually need replacing alongside a spring that's finally given out after decades of cycling. What we don't carry on the truck is every specialty or oversized spring for a custom door that doesn't match the standard sizing most homes here were built with - those get ordered once we've measured the door in person.
