A snapped garage door cable is more than an inconvenience: When your garage door won’t go down or won’t open, it leaves your car and belongings either exposed or inaccessible.

It might be tempting to try and fix it yourself, but a snapped cable throws the entire garage door system off balance. Mishandling these components can be very dangerous, potentially leading to serious injury.

For a broken garage door cable, contact your local Precision Garage Door Service™.

Garage door springs and cables can be dangerous if not handled correctly, as they are under extreme tension. We strongly recommend against attempting a DIY manual garage door repair.

If your garage door cable snaps:

1. Stop using the door immediately: A broken cable can cause the door to become unbalanced or fall unexpectedly. Don’t risk injury by trying to force the door open or closed.
2. Call a service professional: A qualified professional can assess the situation, replace the cables, and get your garage door up and running again.
3. If your garage door is stuck open, wait for a professional to cut the cable: Cutting a high-tension cable yourself is extremely dangerous. A professional has the tools and expertise to release the tension and remove the cable.
4. Replace both cables as a precaution: Garage door cables experience wear and tear over time. Replacing both cables at once, even if only one has snapped, helps ensure balanced operation and reduces the risk of future problems.

It’s technically possible to manually open a garage door with a broken cable, but it’s strongly discouraged. Avoid safety hazards and further damage. Instead, we recommend you:

• Leave the door closed: A closed door, even with a broken cable, offers protection compared to an open one.
• Use the emergency release: Some garage door openers have an emergency release cord that allows you to disengage the opener from the door. This might allow you to manually lift the door a short distance to access the garage. However, be extremely careful, as the broken cable can cause uneven tension in the door, making it harder to control.
• Call a professional: A qualified and trained professional can access your garage, assess the situation, and repair the broken cable.

While replacing a snapped garage door cable may seem like a simple fix, it’s a job best left to professionals. Beyond hidden dangers and liability risks to the repair, specialized tools and knowledge are required that can be most efficiently provided by a professional.

Additional reasons why you should leave garage door cable repair and replacement to the professionals include:

Potential injuries

The cables support the entire weight of your garage door, so if one or both cables are damaged or broken, it compromises the whole system. If your door becomes unbalanced, there’s a good chance it could suddenly fall to the ground, potentially injuring those around it. Considering the weight of garage doors, this is one danger you want to avoid.

Restricted access

A faulty cable can’t properly support the entire weight of your garage door. As a result, the door may get stuck, preventing you from driving your car in or out of your garage. This could be extremely inconvenient if you need to leave your house immediately for an emergency.

Vehicle or other property damage

If your garage door falls due to a damaged or broken cable, it has the potential to fall and land on your car or other items stored in your garage. There’s also a good chance that your garage door will chip your cement if it falls, resulting in even more property damage.

More long-term expenses

If you avoid dealing with your damaged or broken garage door cable, you could be setting yourself up for a much bigger problem. Your cable is one of the mechanisms that lowers your garage door to the ground gently. If your garage door crashes to the ground unexpectedly, it could damage the garage door itself. In this case, you’d be looking at a garage door replacement in addition to replacing the cables.

Garage door cables connect to your garage door pulleys and springs, working together to gently open and close your garage door. There are two main types:

• Lift cables: These run from the bottom brackets of your door up along the sides and connect to pulleys and springs. As the door opens, the cables wrap around the pulleys, which wind the torsion spring (or stretch the extension springs), creating the counterbalancing force to lift the door.
• Retaining cables: These are used exclusively with extension spring systems and act as a safety measure. Retaining cables run alongside the lift cables and are attached to the spring itself. In the event an extension spring breaks, the retaining cable helps prevent the broken spring from whipping around and causing injury.

When you close the door, the process reverses. The cables unwind from the pulley, releasing tension from the garage door springs, and the door lowers under its weight. The cable allows the garage door to lower slowly.

If you suspect you have a damaged cable but don’t see any visible signs, use your garage door to look for clues. Check for these telltale signs of a damaged cable:

1. Garage door is making strange noises: Hearing squeaking, screeching, grinding, or other noises that are out of the ordinary? While your garage door won’t be completely exempt from making noise, it shouldn’t sound like a chorus of mice.
2. Garage door is stuck: If nothing works when you try to open and close it, it’s best to leave your door alone and call a professional immediately.
3. Garage door is angled or crooked: This is another situation that warrants calling a professional immediately to avoid personal injury or damage.
4. Garage door is shaking: Shaking is a symptom of instability. An unstable garage door is a safety hazard, even deadly in some instances.
5. Garage door has fallen completely: Perhaps the most obvious sign is a fallen garage door, which can cause serious injury and leave your home vulnerable.

If any of these signs seem familiar, contact one of our garage door repair experts immediately for service or garage door maintenance.

If your garage door cable snapped, it can not only disrupt your day but pose serious safety risks for you and your property. For garage door cable repairs you can trust, call on the experts and find a Precision Garage Door Service professional near you.

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This article is intended for general informational purposes only and may not be applicable to every situation. You are responsible for determining the proper course of action for your property. Services should be performed by licensed and experienced professionals. Precision Garage Door Service is not responsible for any damages that occur as a result of this blog content or your actions. For the most accurate guidance, contact a Precision Garage Door Service professional for a custom, on-site assessment.