Symptom check
I lift the garage door and it creeps back down
When a garage door won't stay open, its springs no longer carry its weight, most often a pair worn out by years of cycles or springs sized wrong. Treat it as a spring repair, because a drifting door can come down unannounced.
Updated
Close it and keep the space beneath it clear
Do not prop a drifting door open with a ladder, a board or the car, and do not leave it hanging partway. A door that sinks on its own is carrying weight the springs have given up, and the next failure can bring it down at full speed. Bring it down on the opener with everyone well back, then keep it closed until the springs are replaced.
What usually causes it, in order
Each of these leaves the springs short of the torque the door needs, and the way the drift shows up hints at which one you have.
- Most common
Torsion springs worn out by years of cycles
What you notice: Nothing on the shaft looks broken, the springs are the ones the house came with, and the drift crept in over a season rather than overnight.
The repair: Replace both springs, sized to the measured weight, height and drums of the door, and balance it before the opener runs again. Garage Door Spring Replacement, from $245
- Common
Springs that never matched the door
What you notice: The drift began soon after an earlier spring job, often one new spring paired with an old one, or springs chosen by paint color instead of measured.
The repair: Weigh the door, work out the springs for its height and drums, and replace the mismatched set together. Garage Door Spring Replacement, from $245
- Common
New springs wound a little short
What you notice: The springs are recent and whole, but the door settles back from the top or sinks slowly from the middle of its travel.
The repair: Add tension in quarter turns, the same on each spring, until the door rests where it is left. Garage Door Tune-Up, from $135
- Less common
Extension springs that have lost their pull
What you notice: The springs stretch along the horizontal tracks instead of riding a shaft, the door sinks from fully open, and the pair looks rusty, uneven or longer than it should.
The repair: Replace both extension springs with safety cables through them, or move the door onto torsion springs on a shaft. Extension to Torsion Spring Conversion, from $495
Safe checks before you call
Watch and remember rather than test, because holding a drifting door in place is the part that carries the risk.
- From the floor, scan the spring shaft above the header for a coil split open, which turns a drift into a broken spring.
- Note whether the springs ride a shaft over the header or stretch along the side tracks, and how many there are.
- Think about where the drift shows: from fully open, from waist height, or only when the opener was disconnected in an outage.
- Find the date of the last spring work and whether one spring or both were changed that day.
- If the door is up now, close it with the opener and keep cars, bikes and people out from under it.
What drift looks like before a spring breaks
Drift is a door that will not stay where it is left once nothing is holding it, and it usually shows long before a spring snaps.
DASMA has a term for the version that shows at the top: a door "dead in the head" lacks the counterbalance to stay fully open. Its spring data sheet puts the cause plainly, saying too little torque leaves a door drifting down from its open position over time. Lower in the travel, the same shortfall shows as a slow sink from waist height.
The confirming check is the halfway balance test, explained on the symptom page for a door that is hard to lift by hand. On a door that already drifts, the drift has given the answer, so leave the test to us.
Why the opener hides weak springs
The opener masks drift because its trolley stays latched to the door arm and holds the door wherever it stops.
A door can feel normal for months while the motor quietly carries weight the springs gave up. It surfaces when the red cord is pulled. FEMA declared the storms and straight-line winds of December 2025 a major disaster for Clark and Cowlitz counties, and a power cut in weather like that is when a family lifts the door by hand and finds it will not stay up over the car.
Turning up the force setting is no cure. Chamberlain's force instructions rule it out in capital letters, since the screws are never a remedy for a sticking door, and after any change the opener must still back off a 2x4 lying flat under the door.
What a new pair of springs changes
Springs matched to the weight of the door give back the torque the old ones lost, and the door then rests at the top, at mid-travel and on the floor.
We weigh the door, read its height and drums, choose the wire, inside diameter and length of each spring, then wind to the maker's turn chart for that setup. On a shaft with two springs, both change together, because the survivor has run every cycle the failed one did. With the old springs off, we look over the lift cables, both drums and the bottom brackets too.
Clopay notes that a door on new galvanized springs can feel slightly lively at first and settle within a few weeks of use, so a door that rises an inch at the start is not a fault. One that keeps climbing gets a quarter-turn adjustment.
Door will not stay open: questions and answers
How far can a garage door drift before the springs count as weak?
Any steady drift counts, because a balanced door, once freed from the opener, holds still wherever it is left. A door that settles an inch and stops is close to right; one that keeps sinking from the top or the middle is short of spring torque. Lower it, leave it closed, and have the springs measured against the door.
Why does my garage door rise by itself when I let go of it?
The springs are wound for more door than you have, which DASMA calls a door hot off the floor. Fresh galvanized springs can do it briefly while they settle, which Clopay says takes a few weeks. Past that point too much torque strains the cables, drums and bearings, so a technician backs the springs off in quarter turns.
Will turning up the opener force stop my garage door from drifting down?
No, the drift lives in the springs, and more force only makes the opener work harder to hide it. Chamberlain's own force instructions forbid using that setting as a remedy for a sticking door. A higher setting also lets the door push harder against anything in its path before it reverses, which is the wrong trade.
Can tired garage door springs be wound tighter instead of replaced?
Only when the springs are fairly new and were simply set a little light. On springs worn by years of use, extra turns make tired steel work harder for every cycle it has left, and DASMA defines spring stress as the work asked of a spring at a target cycle count. Old springs that drift are replaced as a pair.
Is it safe to park under a garage door that will not stay open?
No, keep the car, the kids and yourself out from under it until the springs are replaced. A drifting door can creep onto a hood, and if a spring breaks while it is up the fall is sudden. Where the shaft carries two springs, the second one slows that fall, but a worn pair can both be near the end.
Can a garage door opener hide springs that no longer hold the door?
Yes, because the trolley holds the door at every point of its travel, so drift only shows once the door is disconnected. The cost is real: LiftMaster warns that a door out of balance may not reverse when it should, and the added strain chews at the drive gear. A door that drops after the cord is pulled needs spring work.
Where to go next
Nearby service areas
This call comes in from Fourth Plain Village, Kelso, Minnehaha and the rest of our Washington service area.
Want a price before anyone drives over?
Call and describe what the door is doing, or text a photo of the door and the spring above it. You hear the likely repair and where its price starts, then decide.