Garage door hero came to the rescue!!!
Warning: long winded, detailed review. Here we go.
Both of my torsion springs on my garage door had snapped. I performed my own research on the cost of replacement parts through Amazon.com which would cost me approx $335. Prices will vary on the replacement parts for you because there are so many different types of garage doors (dimensions, weight, design).
Then, I researched the method of repairing the parts myself through YouTube... If you have the time and are good at troubleshooting small problems, you can totally do this repair yourself and save yourself up to $200-$250.
In my humble opinion, the difficulty level of this repair job was going to be a no-brainer fix for experienced garage door repair person. For an frequent DIYer and a "home fixer-upper type person", this is at the upper level of an easy fix.
But, for a person like me this would have been a moderately difficult repair job. On a scale of one to ten, this would've been a seven, ten being extremely difficult.
I'm a good troubleshooter; able to make some home and car repairs (able to sweat copper pipes, diagnose and fix a leaky dishwasher, replace a toilet, replace a driveshaft out of a FWD vehicle)...performing this repair job on my own (or with the help of a friend) would've been a moderately difficult repair.
I also researched YouTube videos on this type of repair. The videos made the repair look extremely simple and straightforward but I think it would have taken me two to three hours to make the repairs in a closed garage, in sweltering summer heat.
Plus, there is actually two portions of this repair job that can severely injure you or KILL you if you are not careful or aware of the danger.
Having said all that, this is an EXTREMELY EASY fix/job for the experienced professional. To make this story short for people who want to stop reading, the repair guy fixed everything within an hour at a reasonable/fair price.
Here's more information if you want to continue reading.
I used Yelp's automated messaging feature to send out multiple service/quote requests and I also provided all the information regarding my garage door (garage door height, torsion spring specs) and was very specific that I only wanted two torsion springs to be replaced.
Garage Door Hero was one of the businesses that responded with a quote. There were a few businesses that wanted to schedule an appointment to verify the problem to provide an accurate quote, which is totally understandable.
Another garage door repair business (NOT Garage Door Hero) wanted to charge a $35 service fee just to diagnose the problem if I didn't hire him for the repairs.
I selected Garage Door Hero as the business to provide the repairs to my garage door based on their text quote, their five-star raitong/reviews, and they had all the parts in stock.
Technician Marcos responded at the quoted time and provided exceptional service. From watching the YouTube videos, I know Marcos is very, very experienced at repairing garage doors, especially changing out the torsion springs. Every repair person has their own method. I watched many, MANY videos on the torsion spring replacement process, and to me, Marcos's method was the most efficient.
As I said before, I already described the problem/damage with the business owner but during Marco's on-site assessment, he showed me the torsion bar was worn out to the point of pending failure.
Marcos suggested that I replace the ENTIRE torsion spring/bar assembly, which included the torsion springs and... the torsion bar, torsion bar bearings, garage door cables, and cable drums.
At first, I thought he was doing the standard upsell but...
I looked at the parts myself and agreed with his assessment.
In my humble opinion, if I only authorized the torsion springs to be replaced and I kept worn-out parts in service, continued use would've caused a catastrophic failure where the entire torsion spring assembly would have unwound and caused a HUGE, hot mess in trying to open the garage door afterwards...if that happened.
Factoring EVERYTHING I previously mentioned, the price that Marcos was approved to give me was fair.
Marcos completed the repairs within an hour and my garage door was back in service. Marcos was extremely professional, personable, patient, friendly, and knowledgeable. Having said that, I tipped him $20.
To conclude, if you have time on your hands and you're a handy person, repairing the entire torsion spring assembly on a modern, sectional, garage door is totally doable within a day. But, sourcing the parts may take a few days.
I'm not going to provide the price that I was charged because there are too many variables to consider. If you're willing to spend two to five hours of your time to perform these repairs in sweltering heat, then hiring a professional is not for you.
See my attached screenshots for the longer version of this review. read more