Short answer: If your door has a single torsion spring, it simply gets replaced. If it has two and one broke, replacing both in the same visit is usually the better choice: paired springs are installed together and lift the same door the same number of times, so the surviving spring is often near the end of its own life.
When one of your torsion springs breaks, almost every garage door technician will ask the same question: do you want to replace just the broken one, or both? Most homeowners answer this badly because they don't understand the actual economics.
Here's the honest answer.
Easy. Replace it. Many residential garage doors — especially lighter aluminum or single-car doors — only have one torsion spring above the door. There's nothing to debate. The technician replaces the broken spring and you're done.
This is where the question matters. Most two-car residential garage doors have a pair of torsion springs above the door, wound in opposite directions, sharing the load.
The honest reality: paired springs almost always have similar cycle counts. When one fails, the other is usually within a few months — sometimes a few weeks — of failing too. They were installed at the same time, lifted the same door the same number of times, and aged at the same rate.
If you only replace the broken one, here's what happens:
2. The other spring breaks in 2–8 months. 3. You pay another deductible / service call. 4. Total: two service calls, two trips, two parts costs.
If you replace both at once:
1. You pay one service call. 2. Both springs are new and matched in age. 3. Next replacement is 7–12 years out. 4. Total: one service call, one trip.
The math is simple. Two springs at one visit is roughly the same parts cost as one spring + the future second visit's labor cost — but you save the second deductible/trip charge entirely.
This is where it gets nuanced. Many home warranty plans cover the broken spring only — not the second "preventive" replacement. Plan rules vary:
Bad-faith contractors use "you need both springs" as an upsell tactic on doors that have only one spring. Or they replace one spring but bill for two. Or they replace both but the second one is the cheapest available, while the first is the heavy-duty quality.
Three questions to verify the recommendation is honest:
1. "Can you show me both springs?" A reputable technician will point them out before doing any work. 2. "What's the cycle count on the surviving spring?" They probably can't tell you exactly, but they should know roughly how old the springs are based on the door's age. 3. "Are you replacing them with the same gauge and length as the original?" Mismatched spring specs cause new doors to be unbalanced and damage openers.
Network technicians dispatched through MSF aren't paid on parts commission. There's no incentive for them to push a paired replacement that isn't needed. If you have a single-spring door, they'll tell you. If you have a paired-spring system and only one failed but the other has 12 months left, they'll tell you that too.
The right answer depends on your door's setup, the age of the springs, and what your warranty covers. Ask the technician on-site — they have the answer to your specific door.
If you're a warranty member, file the claim with your warranty company. For direct cash service in our coverage areas, call 855-557-5454.
*MS Facility Solutions | National warranty dispatch coordinator for residential garage door service | info@msfacilitysolutions.com*
Not technically. A door with two torsion springs will operate with one new spring and one old one. Technicians recommend replacing both because of age rather than function: the springs cycled together, so the older one usually fails soon after. Replacing both in one visit avoids a second repair trip.
There is no exact answer. It depends on the door's weight, how many times it opens each day, and the spring's rated cycle life. In practice a surviving spring of the same age often fails within months of its partner. A technician can judge it from the door's age and the condition of the coil.
Stand inside with the door closed and look at the horizontal steel shaft above the opening. You will see either one coiled spring or two mounted on either side of a center bracket. Two-car and heavier insulated doors commonly use a pair, while lighter single-car doors often use just one.
That depends on your plan. Many plans cover only the component that actually failed and treat a preventive second spring as an optional upgrade, while others allow paired replacement when the technician documents the need. Ask the technician on site what the dispatch authorizes before any work begins.
Tell us what is going on and we will get a licensed technician on site, on time.
