Garage Door's Cable Snapped - Pls Help.

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May 4th, 2010 3:44 pm

Mrbj [OP]: Deal Addict; Sep 10, 2007; 3496 posts; 771 upvotes; Cowtown

May 4th, 2010 3:44 pm

Garage Door's Cable Snapped - Pls Help.

Yesterday I came home opened the door with remote. parked my car, pressed the remote to close the door....lo and behold the garage door started to act wired and the Craftsman (It has Craftsman opener installed.) started to pull it back and ripped off the thing that was attached to the door (connecting door to the motor) - sad scene to watch, couldn't do anything about it.

I thought it was fairly new door, but my handy man friend told me it is an old fashioned model - non-insulated etc. (it was there when we moved in).

Upon investigation I found out that one of two the cables snapped due to rust build-up on it. Part of the The door came off its runners/track. I tried to manually close the door but looks like it's balance is not right anymore.

The guy mentioned above says, that it's not fixable anymore. If I try to fix it would give me trouble again. Getting a new door is kind of too expensive.

So if you guys have any suggestion, or where could I get a door on fairly reasonable price...I'd love to hear.

Thanks.

One day, future generations may look back and wonder what "we" did when human lives were being erased in Palestine before the world's eyes. May our actions speak louder than our silence.

14 replies

May 4th, 2010 5:01 pm

LarryLat: Deal Addict; Nov 20, 2003; 1346 posts; 435 upvotes; Aurora, ON

May 4th, 2010 5:01 pm

Mrbj wrote: ↑I tried to manually close the door but looks like it's balance is not right anymore.

You might have a bigger problem on your hands than just a broken cable. If the door it out of balance then there's a big chance that the spring above the door on the wall is broken. Those things do break, and apparently a pain to replace.

A broken spring would throw your garage door out of balance, which led to too much strain on the garage door opener, where the weakest link was the cable.

So, check the spring first, and get that door balanced before you fix the opener.

May 4th, 2010 6:49 pm

Pete_Coach: Deal Expert; May 10, 2005; 37413 posts; 11929 upvotes; Ottawa

May 4th, 2010 6:49 pm

If you do not feel comfortable doing this on your own (and there are some potentially dangerous actions required) then call any of the garage door folks in your area.
They will all come and do it for you. They will install an new cable, re-tighten the spring(s), balance the door out again and ensure everything is working fine.

May 4th, 2010 7:12 pm

woof: Deal Fanatic; Mar 21, 2002; 6899 posts; 1589 upvotes; Manitoba

May 4th, 2010 7:12 pm

I always used to oil the cable so that it wouldn't rust, particularly the section closest to the floor with the door closed because that's where the dampness is greatest. When I was getting my springs replaced the repair guy suggested coating it in vaseline.

May 4th, 2010 7:58 pm

l69norm: Deal Expert; Jun 12, 2007; 23041 posts; 7044 upvotes; London

May 4th, 2010 7:58 pm

OP
Checkout Costco for new garage doors:
http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Productgrou ... en-CA&Sp=C

Depending on the particular mechanism, putting a new cable on isn't that hard if you are mechanically inclined. The cables are sold at HD. It sounds like you have other problems with the old door besides the bad cable. Some mechanisms require work on the springs - any work with the springs requires a professional.

The doors that HD, Rona and Lowes sells are installed by a third party company. You can usually get a better price if you go to these companies directly.

May 4th, 2010 9:17 pm

MacGyver: Deal Addict; Mar 8, 2002; 4253 posts; 916 upvotes; Vancouver

May 4th, 2010 9:17 pm

Garage door is the one thing I won't try to fix in my own home. Call a pro, you can maim or kill yourself if you don't know what you're doing and release the spring tension.

May 4th, 2010 10:52 pm

speeeeee: Deal Addict; Jan 4, 2007; 1896 posts; 423 upvotes; GTA

May 4th, 2010 10:52 pm

Call a pro not worth diy

May 5th, 2010 9:43 am

TrevorK: Deal Expert; Aug 2, 2001; 20306 posts; 12903 upvotes

May 5th, 2010 9:43 am

I had a cable snap on me, and I think the reason you find it "out of balance" is because the other cable is still attached fine. If the other cable is still attached it will be next to impossible to close both sides (in my case) to their usual position.

In order to close my door I had to cut the other cable (After opening the door manually of course to relieve the tension), and then it closed fine. I didn't mind cutting the other side because the cable snapping ruined my garage door anyways, so I have to get someone in to replace that (my door is wood and the panel is now cracked around one of the rollers)

May 5th, 2010 9:53 am

whampoa: Deal Addict; Apr 29, 2001; 4799 posts; 41 upvotes; Toronto

May 5th, 2010 9:53 am

Same thing happened to my garage door last fall. Cable snap and pull the door sideway on one side out of the rail on the way down.

Call garage door people. It cost around $150 and up depending on the severity.

Very professional, know what they are doing.

Two person jobs, apparently the have to loosen the spring in order to pull the cable back in alignment.

Level up the rail which the builder screw up originally. No more cranking sound when door open and close.

No need to replace the door, if it's still in good shape and not broken in half.

Unless you're in the trade and know what you are doing. I'll just call a pro.

Mark77 wrote: ↑That's not very nice....and you're missing out on a lot of valuable knowledge if you ignore me. Your loss.

May 5th, 2010 10:09 am

arm2000: Deal Addict; Jan 13, 2007; 4831 posts; 362 upvotes

May 5th, 2010 10:09 am

whampoa wrote: ↑ Call garage door people. It cost around $150 and up depending on the severity.
Very professional, know what they are doing.
Two person jobs, apparently the have to loosen the spring in order to pull the cable back in alignment.

Hmm. It just happened to me recently. I called the pro. They charged $290. Was actually one man job. He told me that the springs have to be replaced even if he didn't see them (they were behind the door).
In my opinion it can be a DIY job, I just didn't have enough patience. But yeah, it takes some time and if that counts you better call the profs

May 5th, 2010 11:36 am

goofball: Deal Guru; Dec 10, 2004; 13316 posts; 8082 upvotes; Kanata

May 5th, 2010 11:36 am

had mine done last year when one side snapped. Replaced both cables at the same time since the other was starting to rust pretty bad too. Everything aligned properly, cost around $130 after all said and done.

May 5th, 2010 1:02 pm

Mrbj [OP]: Deal Addict; Sep 10, 2007; 3496 posts; 771 upvotes; Cowtown

May 5th, 2010 1:02 pm

Thanks for the replies. I feel lot better now. I'm ok with something around $300 to get everything fixed. I will call a pro once weather settles.

So, can somebody recommend a good pro in Calgary area?

[QUOTE]In order to close my door I had to cut the other cable (After opening the door manually of course to relieve the tension), and then it closed fine. [/QUOTE]

Good point,TrevorK, I will cut other cable too, just to close the door properly as I dont feel very safe about my stuff in Garage.

One day, future generations may look back and wonder what "we" did when human lives were being erased in Palestine before the world's eyes. May our actions speak louder than our silence.

May 5th, 2010 2:24 pm

TrevorK: Deal Expert; Aug 2, 2001; 20306 posts; 12903 upvotes

May 5th, 2010 2:24 pm

Mrbj wrote: ↑Thanks for the replies. I feel lot better now. I'm ok with something around $300 to get everything fixed. I will call a pro once weather settles.

So, can somebody recommend a good pro in Calgary area?

I've never used Barcol, but it might make sense to call them for a quick quote over the phone so that you know what a large company will charge for the service. Then, when you get other quotes you can compare easily.

Good point,TrevorK, I will cut other cable too, just to close the door properly as I dont feel very safe about my stuff in Garage.

Just remember to open the door completely because there will be a lot of tension on the cable otherwise. I used an angle grinder since pliers didn't seem strong enough.

I also put a C-Clamp on each side (on top of one of the rollers against the track) so that you can't even roll up the garage door manually without being inside.

Nov 15th, 2010 8:18 pm

aliikram: Deal Addict; Mar 11, 2006; 1402 posts; 312 upvotes; GTA

Nov 15th, 2010 8:18 pm

For those people who would prefer a referral for GTA area.

Moga Garage Doors - (416) 657 4110
The guy charged me $125+ tax in summer 2010.

Also used him in the past for garage door opener installation, so I knew he was reliable.

Nov 9th, 2012 12:50 pm

pocket1: Member; Jul 10, 2006; 445 posts; 118 upvotes; Toronto

Nov 9th, 2012 12:50 pm

aliikram wrote: ↑For those people who would prefer a referral for GTA area.

Moga Garage Doors - (416) 657 4110
The guy charged me $125+ tax in summer 2010.

Also used him in the past for garage door opener installation, so I knew he was reliable.

Please do yourself a favor and don't use the services of this company. I made the mistake of using them in Sept 2012 to change the garage door springs. Response time was good, and the guy who did it is courteous. Problem is that they don't seem to support their work. I had a problem with the garage door spring two weeks after installation, and they just won't come by. Talked to an installer 6 times over 4 weeks -- each time they say they will drop by but they just don't show up on the agreed date. After more than a month of talking to the installer, they started to either not answer my calls or pretend that there is a bad phone connection.

The warranty was supposed to be 3 years. I even tried to call both numbers listed for this company for help, send in support request via web, and even got BBB to contact the company -- no responses at all. So now you know.

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