Is it common for a garage door spring to break?

Yes, it is very common for a garage door spring to break, and it is actually one of the most common garage door repairs homeowners will face. Garage door springs are rated for a finite number of cycles, typically 10,000 cycles for standard springs, and every time you open and close the door counts as one cycle. With normal use of 2 to 4 cycles per day, a spring will naturally reach its fatigue limit after 7 to 12 years and break with a loud bang. Because the springs are under constant high tension and are made of steel that flexes thousands of times, metal fatigue, rust, and wear are inevitable. Other factors that make breakage even more common include lack of lubrication, which increases friction, rust from moisture or from clogged gutters above the garage that drip water onto the springs and cause corrosion, cold weather that makes steel brittle, and springs that are undersized for the door weight. Extension springs also commonly break. When one torsion spring breaks on a two-spring system, it is extremely common for the second to break soon after because they have identical age and usage. Most garage door companies report that spring replacement is their number one service call, especially in spring and winter when temperature changes stress the metal.