Okay; maybe you like to do your own of “do-it-yourself” work, and in general, you’re pretty handy person, right? However, be careful if your garage door torsion springs need to be replaced, because it can be very dangerous to do this on your own.

First things first: what are garage door torsion springs, and what do they do?

The garage door’s torsion springs are the devices that actually “lift” the actual weight of the garage door so that it can be opened either manually or electronically. They usually last for about 10,000 cycles before they have to be replaced. Using the springs makes opening and closing your garage door very easy and convenient, of course, since it’s not likely you could open your garage door yourself without it, but trying to replace them can also be dangerous. That’s because garage door torsion springs have a lot of “stored” energy in them, and if they break at the wrong moment, the newly released uncontrolled energy could severely hurt or even kill you. Of course, that’s also true of other do-it-yourself work, so it stands to your own judgment as to whether or not this is something you want to take on yourself. If you do try to do this, though, make sure you do your homework very carefully and take the proper precautions.

Getting garage door torsion springs if you want to do the job yourself

Here’s the thing; it can be very difficult if not impossible to get garage door torsion springs because most manufacturers and distributors think the public should not have the springs in their possession. In addition, garage door repair technicians are usually licensed in many jurisdictions, meaning that only “professionals” usually do the jobs.

That said, though, the Internet is a great place to begin your search for garage door torsion springs if you decide to do a replacement yourself. The Door and Access Systems Manufactures Association has a website with information and some good technical data sheets on garage doors that may help you with your project.

When you do your search for garage door torsion springs, you can use those four words as your exact keyword help you get started: “garage door torsion springs.” However, you may have better luck actually finding garage door torsion springs if you broaden out your search first with a more general keyword phrase like “garage door supply.”

Now, it should be noted that again, most manufacturers won’t even sell to do-it-yourselfers who aren’t properly licensed. Because contractors who do this type of work can buy torsion springs in bulk, they can buy the springs much more cheaply than you can, which means that having the springs installed at small markup beyond the contractor’s cost may not cost you any more than buying the springs for what you will need to pay, a higher rate. So again, this is something you should only do if you are truly knowledgeable — not just for your own safety, but because it’s likely not going to cost you any more to hire a professional to do it for you than it would if you did it yourself.