How to Price a Garage Door Spring Replacement

Take your time on the job, times your rate, then add the springs and any other parts. Most shops show it to the customer as one flat price, not by the hour.

Most spring jobs are quick. A pair of springs on a normal home door often takes 1 to 2 hours. That counts the drive, the swap, and a check of the door after.

Time your own jobs for a few weeks. Your real hours beat any chart you find online.

If the door has 2 springs, change both. They were put in on the same day. They have done the same work, so the second one is close to its end too.

If you change just 1, the door can lift out of balance. And you will likely be back in a few months for the other one. That trip is hard to charge for and easy to lose the customer over.

Say this to the customer in plain words. Most people get it once you explain it.

Springs are rated in cycles. A cycle is the door going up and back down once.

A basic spring is often rated for about 10,000 cycles. A door that opens 4 times a day uses about 1,460 cycles a year. So a basic spring lasts about 7 years at that pace.

A long-life spring may be rated for 20,000 cycles or more. It uses thicker wire, so it costs more. For a busy family, it can last twice as long.

Ask how many times a day the door goes up. Then show both choices with the years each one should last.

Here is one way the numbers can add up. Every figure is an example. Swap in your own rate and your supplier's prices.

Say your rate is $110 an hour. It has to cover your pay, the truck, gas, insurance and the office.

• Time: 1.5 hours with the drive, $165.
• Springs: 2 at $75 each, your price to the customer, $150.
• Tune-up: oil the moving parts, check the cables and rollers, test the balance. Part of the time above.

That comes to about $315 for the pair. Long-life springs might add $50 to $100 a pair, so that choice might come to about $390.

Your spring price should cover more than what you paid. It also pays for the time to stock the right sizes and carry them on the truck.

Look at the whole door before you quote. Each of these adds time or parts, so each one is fair to price.

• Frayed cables: worn lift cables should be changed with the springs.
• Worn rollers: old rollers make the door loud and hard to move.
• A worn bearing plate: the plate at each end of the bar can wear out.
• 1 spring to 2: a heavy door on 1 spring may need to go to 2.
• A big or heavy door: a wide, tall or wood door needs bigger springs.
• Side springs with no safety cable: these long springs stretch along each track. A cable through each one holds it if it snaps.
• Nights and weekends: a car stuck in the garage is urgent, so many shops charge more after hours.

Some states and cities need a license for door work. The rules vary a lot, so check yours before you take the job.

Give the customer 2 or 3 real choices, each with its own total. For example:

• Basic springs: a new pair, a tune-up and a balance check.
• Long-life springs: the same work with springs that last longer.
• Long-life springs and new parts: add new cables and rollers too.

On each choice, say how many cycles the springs are rated for. Say how long you stand behind the parts and the work.

Then say what is not included. For example: a new opener, bent tracks, a broken panel, or a new door. Each one can be its own quote.

Keep each spring size and part in your price book. Then the next call takes a few minutes to quote, even from the driveway.