Garage Door Cable Repair
in Massachusetts.

Two kinds of cable

On a torsion door, one lift cable on each side runs from the bottom corner of the door up to a drum on the spring shaft. As the springs turn the shaft, the drums wind the cables in and the door rises.

On an extension-spring door, each lift cable runs from the bottom corner over pulleys to its spring. A second, separate cable, the safety containment cable, runs through the middle of each spring and is anchored at both ends, so a spring that breaks stays on it.

• Not sure which springs you have? How to tell torsion from extension.

Why cables come off

A lift cable stays on its drum or pulley only while it is under tension. When a spring breaks, or the door binds in its track or lands on something on the way down, the cable goes slack and can slip off; the door then hangs lower on one side.

That is why a cable repair includes checking the springs, drums and track that let it happen. A door that has come out of its track as well needs off-track repair.

A frayed cable is the other way it goes: broken strands mean the cable can snap under load, and a door with a failed cable can fall.