Light-Door Pricing · Updated 14 November 2026
Single Spring System
Replacement Cost
Some torsion doors run on one spring that carries the whole door. What replacing it costs, how much door one spring can lift, and what to weigh up if the technician suggests converting to two.
Headline number: $110 to $360 installed to replace the one torsion spring on a single-spring door, parts, labor and service call included. Converting to two springs is a separate job with no published price we could verify: get it quoted as its own line.
Our estimate, not a quote: spring prices from DDM Garage Doors and DIY Garage Door Parts, labor from Yelp's cost guide, read 14 October 2026.
How we price this: Our ranges are estimates built from published inputs, not quotes: retail spring prices, the service-call and hourly rates in Yelp's cost guide, and job times from HomeAdvisor and Yelp. Low ends are rounded down and high ends up to the nearest $5. Sources, first read 13 October 2026 and re-read 14 October 2026: DDM Garage Doors, DIY Garage Door Parts, Yelp cost guide, HomeAdvisor and DASMA, Safety Tips for Garage Doors. HomeAdvisor and Angi are both owned by Angi Inc., which pays this site a commission for quote requests. (Angi Inc. 2025 Form 10-K)
Show the arithmetic
- One torsion spring replaced (per spring; estimate from stated inputs; includes parts, labor, service call): $110 to $360. parts $35.38 to $157.94, plus labor $75 to $200 (a $75 to $100 service call covering the first hour, plus up to one more hour at $100): $110.38 to $357.94, rounded out to the nearest $5.
- Labor and service call for one visit (per job; estimate from stated inputs; includes labor, service call, minimum labor): $75 to $200. $75 service call when the job fits in the first hour (HomeAdvisor: two springs in 30 minutes to one hour); $100 service call plus one more hour at $100 when it runs to about two hours (Yelp): $75 to $200.
Parts are priced at what the two suppliers charge the public. Installers buy for less and many mark parts up, and neither figure is published, so a quote's parts line can be higher than ours.
Wage check: The BLS puts the median mechanical door repairer (the occupation that includes garage door mechanics) at $26.79 an hour (May 2025). Wages are 70.0% of private-industry employer costs (June 2026), so that technician costs an employer about $38.27 an hour before the van, insurance, overhead and profit. Yelp's $40 to $100 hourly rate sits at or above that cost, which is what a billed rate should do. (BLS OEWS, 49-9011 Mechanical Door Repairers; BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation)
How much door one spring can lift
On a single-spring system, one torsion spring on the shaft above the door does all the lifting; the cable drums sit at each end of the shaft as on any torsion door. Look above the closed door: one spring on the shaft means a single-spring system, two means a double-spring system.
Because one spring carries the whole door, the door's weight decides whether one spring is enough. Every ready-listed 7 ft spring at DDM Garage Doors states what it lifts; the heaviest lifts 165.5 lb. The heaviest at DIY Garage Door Parts lifts 158.3 lb. A door heavier than that needs two springs or a spring made to order. We found no manufacturer weight for single-car doors that we could verify, and DDM warns that published door weights are "only approximations" and "not reliable for ordering garage door springs", so the technician should size the spring from your door.
Price by what the spring lifts
Our estimate for replacing the one spring, by the weight it carries on a 7 ft door:
- Spring lifting up to about 85 lb: $110 to $310 (spring $37.48 to $105.58, plus labor).
- Spring lifting about 85 to 120 lb: $110 to $350 (spring $35.38 to $149.50, plus labor).
- Spring lifting about 120 to 165 lb: $125 to $360 (spring $53.81 to $157.94, plus labor).
Each band runs from the cheapest to the dearest ready-listed spring in it at the two suppliers, plus one visit of labor, rounded out to the nearest five dollars. The wire sizes behind each band are in the table on our torsion spring replacement cost page.
Cost breakdown for a single spring
Part: $35.38 to $157.94 for the spring at retail (the low end is DDM Garage Doors; the high end is DIY Garage Door Parts, which says every torsion spring order "Includes Winding Bars, 3/32" Torsion Cables"). Labor and service call: $75 to $200, on Yelp's published rates: a $75 to $100 service call that "often covers an hour of work", then up to $100 an hour. Total: $110 to $360.
Note what drives the price. The spring is the smaller part; the visit is the larger. That is why a pair on a two-spring door, $145 to $520 on the same basis, costs much less than twice a single spring. Cables, rollers and after-hours call-outs are not included: see spring and cable replacement cost and emergency repair.
Converting to two springs
A technician may suggest converting to two springs, especially on a heavy door. It can be the right call, but it is a different job from a spring replacement.
We found no published price for a single-to-double conversion that we could verify, so we do not give one. Ask for the conversion as its own line, next to the price for a like-for-like single spring, and ask why the technician recommends it: what your door weighs, and what the spring now fitted is rated to lift. After a conversion, each future replacement is a pair job, priced on our double-spring page.
How long a single spring lasts
DDM Garage Doors says standard residential torsion springs are designed around a minimum of about 10,000 cycles. A cycle is one opening and one closing, so use matters more than age. As an example, at 4 cycles a day a 10,000-cycle spring reaches its rating in about 6.8 years (our arithmetic). Longer-rated springs are covered on the high-cycle spring cost page; the prices there are for a pair on one 16x7 door, so ask for the single-spring upgrade as a separate line. A longer-rated spring can be a physically longer one, so check it fits: DDM Garage Doors says "Available shaft space, spring inside diameter, wire size, door weight, cable drums, track configuration, and other factors must be considered before selecting a high-cycle conversion."
What to ask the technician on a single-spring call
- Roughly what does my door weigh, and what does the spring you are fitting lift?
- Is one spring right for that weight, or would you fit two? If two, what is the conversion as a separate line?
- What wire size, inside diameter and length are you fitting?
- What cycle rating is the spring, and what would a longer-rated one add?
- Will you check the balance of the door after fitting, and what is the warranty, in writing?
Do not try it yourself: DASMA says "spring systems are dangerous and should be repaired only by trained professionals."
Related cost guides on this site
Frequently Asked
How much does it cost to replace a single torsion spring?
$110 to $360 on our estimate, parts, labor and service call included. The spring itself is $35.38 to $157.94 at the two suppliers we price; the rest is one visit of labor, $75 to $200 on Yelp's published rates. A lighter door sits at the low end: $110 to $310 for a spring lifting up to about 85 lb, $110 to $350 for a spring lifting about 85 to 120 lb, $125 to $360 for a spring lifting about 120 to 165 lb.
Is a single spring enough for my door?
Only if one spring can lift the whole door. The heaviest ready-listed spring for a 7 ft door lifts 165.5 lb at DDM Garage Doors and 158.3 lb at DIY Garage Door Parts, so a door heavier than that needs two springs or a spring made to order. Door weights vary widely by build, and DDM warns that published weights are "only approximations", so ask the technician what your door weighs.
Can I add a second spring to my single-spring door?
Often, but it is a different job from a spring replacement, so ask the technician why it is needed: what your door weighs and what the spring now fitted is rated to lift. We found no published price for a conversion that we could verify, so get it quoted as its own line, separate from the spring replacement.
How long should a single torsion spring last?
DDM Garage Doors says standard residential torsion springs are designed around a minimum of about 10,000 cycles. Cycles matter more than years: at 4 openings and closings a day, a 10,000-cycle spring reaches its rating in about 6.8 years (our arithmetic). A rating is a design figure, not a failure date.
Should I fit a high-cycle spring instead of converting to two?
They solve different problems. A high-cycle spring lasts more cycles on a door one spring can already lift; a second spring is for a door that one spring cannot lift well. A longer-rated spring can also be a bigger part: DDM Garage Doors says "a higher-cycle replacement spring may be physically longer than the original torsion spring" and that "Available shaft space, spring inside diameter, wire size, door weight, cable drums, track configuration, and other factors must be considered before selecting a high-cycle conversion." The only high-cycle prices we could verify are DDM's for a pair on one 16x7 door, so ask for the single-spring upgrade as a separate line.
FAQ sources, read 14 October 2026: DDM Garage Doors, torsion springs for 7 ft doors, DIY Garage Door Parts, 0.283 x 2 in. x 52 in. spring, DDM Garage Doors, door weights, DDM Garage Doors, high-cycle springs and Yelp cost guide.