2026-03-21 7 min read
If you've lived in Camas long enough, you already know what the weather does to everything metal outside your house. We average over 37 inches of rain a year and spend the better part of November through March in near-constant drizzle. That's great for the cedar trees and the Columbia River views out toward Washougal. but it's genuinely rough on your garage door springs.
Springs are the workhorses of your garage door system. They do most of the heavy lifting. literally. When they're healthy, your opener barely has to strain. When they start failing, everything downstream starts to suffer. Here's what Camas homeowners need to know about recognizing the signs early and understanding what's actually happening to that hardware above your door.
It's not just the rain. The real culprit is the temperature cycling we get all winter. Freeze-thaw cycles. where overnight temps drop to freezing then climb back up to the low 40s by afternoon. put constant stress on metal components. That repeated expansion and contraction creates micro-fractures in the spring coil over time.
Combine that with our months-long wet season, and you get a situation where moisture never fully evaporates off metal surfaces. Springs in drier climates might last 10,15 years. In the Pacific Northwest, that same spring under the same usage load can start failing after 7,10 years. If your Camas home was built in the 2000s. and nearly half of local housing was. there's a good chance your original springs are entering their vulnerable years right now.
Lubrication is the single best thing you can do to slow this down. A silicone-based garage door lubricant applied to the coils every six months repels moisture and reduces friction. Skip the WD-40. it attracts dust and dries out fast, which is the opposite of what you need in a wet climate.
Disconnect the opener and try lifting the door by hand. A properly balanced door with healthy springs should rise smoothly and hold in place when you let go at waist height. If it feels like you're lifting a car hood without a prop rod, the springs are no longer carrying their share of the weight.
A snapping torsion spring sounds like a gunshot or firecracker going off in the garage. Many homeowners think something fell or there was an intruder. If you hear that sound and the door stops working, that's almost certainly a broken spring. Do not attempt to operate the door. the opener motor was not designed to lift an unsupported door and can burn out trying.
Stand inside your garage and look at the torsion spring mounted horizontally above the door. Healthy springs are tightly and evenly coiled. A visible gap or separation. even an inch or two. means the spring has snapped completely.
Surface rust appears as a light orange tint along the coils. Early-stage rust can sometimes be treated. Deep pitting, where rust has eaten into the metal and left cratered textures you can feel with your finger, means the spring has lost structural integrity and needs replacement. not lubrication. If you schedule a service visit when you notice surface rust, you're likely catching it in time.
A door that pauses mid-travel, jerks to one side, or moves at inconsistent speeds is often fighting a spring that's lost its tension. This also puts abnormal strain on the opener motor and the track system, which can cascade into more expensive repairs if left alone.
Most homes in Camas. particularly the newer construction in Prune Hill, Grass Valley, and the Lacamas Lake-area neighborhoods. use torsion spring systems. These are the horizontal springs mounted on a shaft above the door. Older homes and some two-car garages may use extension springs, which run along the horizontal tracks on each side.
Torsion springs are generally safer to work with for a professional because all the tension is controlled through winding cones. Extension springs are under significant tension and can become dangerous projectiles if they snap without safety cables in place. Either way, spring replacement is not a DIY job. The stored energy in a garage door spring is substantial enough to cause serious injury if released improperly.
Proactive replacement during a scheduled visit is significantly cheaper than emergency service after a spring snaps at 7 a.m. when you need to get to work. If your springs are approaching the 10-year mark, or you're noticing any of the signs above, it's worth having a professional assess them now rather than waiting.
When a technician replaces springs, it's also a good time to check the cables, rollers, and opener mounting. Our full list of services covers all of it in a single visit, which is almost always more cost-effective than piecemeal repairs.
Homeowners in nearby Vancouver often assume their springs are fine because the door still opens. Don't use that logic. A failing spring can still open a door. it just means the opener motor is compensating, and that motor won't hold up indefinitely under that extra load.
Q: Can I replace just one spring, or do both need to be replaced at the same time? A: If your door has two torsion springs and one breaks, most professionals will recommend replacing both. The surviving spring has experienced the same amount of wear and is likely to fail soon after. Replacing them together saves you a second service call and keeps the door balanced.
Q: How do I know if my springs are torsion or extension? A: Torsion springs are mounted horizontally on a metal shaft directly above the closed garage door. Extension springs run along the ceiling tracks on either side of the door and stretch when the door closes. If you're unsure, a quick look from inside your garage will usually make it clear. or you can ask a technician during a routine inspection.
Q: Is it safe to operate my garage door if I think a spring is failing? A: If you suspect a spring is failing. especially if you've heard a loud snap or the door feels very heavy. do not use the automatic opener. Operating the door with a broken or severely weakened spring can damage the opener motor, bend the door panels, or cause the door to drop suddenly. Call for service and leave the door in whatever position it's in until a technician can assess it.