Garage Door Cable Repair
Frayed, slipped or snapped lift cables replaced on both sides and re-tensioned, so the door rises level again.
Open 24/7 · price agreed before we touch the cables · Leesburg office at 891-899 Harrison St SE
Garage door cable repair means replacing the two steel lift cables that run from the bottom corners of the door up to the drums or pulleys, then setting their tension so the door rises level. You need it when a cable frays, slips off its drum or snaps, and the door hangs crooked or refuses to lift.
Signs You Need Cable Repair
- The closed door sits lower on one side, or it stops at a slant on the way up.
- Loose strands, rust spots or kinks show on the cable near a bottom corner.
- A cable hangs slack beside the track or has jumped out of its drum groove.
- The door shudders or jerks right at the start of the lift.
- The opener strains, stops or reverses because one side is not rising with the other.
- A bottom bracket looks bent or rusted where the cable loops onto it.
How We Do Garage Door Cable Repair
- Secure the door. The door goes fully down and is clamped in the track so it cannot move while the springs are unloaded.
- Take the tension off. Torsion springs are unwound, or extension springs unhooked, until both cables hang slack.
- Find the cause. A cable rarely fails on its own, so we look at the drums, the bottom brackets, the rollers and the track before anything new goes on.
- Fit new cables on both sides. Each cable is cut to the door height, seated in the drum grooves or over the pulleys, and looped onto its bottom bracket.
- Re-tension, balance and test with you. The springs are set again, the door must hold still halfway up, and we run it on the opener with you watching, including the auto-reverse check.
Parts and Options
Torsion or extension system. On a torsion door the cables wind onto drums at each end of the spring shaft above the opening. On an extension door they run over pulleys beside the horizontal tracks, and every spring should have its own safety cable through the middle.
Standard or high-lift drums. A standard-lift track uses standard drums. A high-lift or vertical-lift track needs a larger drum and a longer cable, so the new cable has to match the track you have.
Cable size and brackets. Lift cables come in several thicknesses and lengths, chosen by door weight and height. The bottom bracket holds the full pull of the springs, so a rusted or bent one is replaced along with the cable.
Safety First
Lift cables and bottom brackets carry the full pull of the springs. Loosening a bracket bolt on a closed door can release that pull at once, and a cable that snaps under load can whip across the garage. Keep the door closed, keep people and cars out of its path, and do not run the opener with a loose cable. Call (571) 410-8727 instead, or use the contact page to send the details.
Repair or Replace?
A worn cable on its own is a repair, not a reason for a new door. We suggest more only when the cause is bigger: springs that have lost their strength (spring repair starts from $150 per spring), a bent track that keeps throwing the door (track repair starts from $150 per door), or a bottom section too rusted to hold a bracket (panel replacement). If the door itself is past saving, we explain new garage door installation and price it after measuring.
Starting Prices — Garage Door Cable Repair
- Garage Door Cable Replacement per cable
- From $150
- Diagnostic Service Call $0 with a completed repair
- $0
Cable work is priced per cable, so a door that needs only one is charged for one. A damaged drum, a rusted bottom bracket or worn springs found during the check are priced separately, and you approve each item first.
What moves the final number: how many cables your door needs, the cable size and length for its weight and height, whether the drums or bottom brackets have to be replaced, and whether the springs are tired enough to change in the same visit. You hear the total at the door, and nothing is fitted until you agree.
Cable Repair From Leesburg to Lucketts
Cable calls come in from all four towns we cover. Our office is in Leesburg, and the same truck heads east on Route 7 to Lansdowne, west on Colonial Highway to Hamilton, and north on Route 15 to Lucketts. The phone number, the starting price per cable and the price-first rule do not change from town to town.
Garage Door Cable Repair Questions
Is it safe to open the door with one cable broken?
No. With one cable gone, the whole load hangs on the other side, so the door rises crooked and can bind in the track or drop. Leave it closed, unplug the opener and call (571) 410-8727. If the house cannot be secured, ask for emergency garage door repair; the phone is answered 24/7.
Is a cable job priced per cable or per door?
Cable replacement starts from $150 per cable, and the diagnostic is $0 with a completed repair. The total depends on how many cables are replaced, whether a drum or bottom bracket is damaged too, and whether tired springs need spring repair in the same visit. You hear the exact price at the door before any work starts.
The cable slipped off its drum again. What keeps causing that?
A cable usually jumps the drum when it goes slack: the door hit something on the way down, a bottom roller left the track, or a spring lost tension. Putting the cable back without fixing that cause means it will slip again, so we check the track and rollers first and use track repair where it is needed.
Should both lift cables be replaced at the same time?
Usually, yes. Both cables have made the same number of trips, so when one frays the other is rarely far behind, and a matched pair keeps the door level. If the second cable still looks sound, we show it to you and you decide. A full garage door repair check covers the rest of the hardware on the same visit.
Do extension spring doors use different cables?
Yes. On an extension spring door, the lift cables run over pulleys beside the tracks instead of winding onto drums above the door, and each spring should have a safety cable running through it. We check for those safety cables during the visit. If the springs themselves are stretched, garage door spring repair is priced in the same visit.