What it costs
Garage door cable repair cost
Typical
$150 – $350
Most jobs land near $220 · for a pair, fitted
$150 to $350 for a pair fitted. Cables are replaced in pairs, and the job is priced on the tension rather than the part — the cable itself is a few dollars, and everything you are paying for is the person who can safely unwind and reset a door that is holding two hundred pounds.
Before you price a DIY
Never change your own springs
A torsion spring on a double garage door holds enough stored energy to break an arm, take out teeth, or worse. It is wound under tension with two steel bars, and if one slips it goes at the speed of the thing it was holding up. People are seriously injured doing this every year, and some are killed. There is no YouTube video that makes this safe, and the part costs less than the emergency room.
What is in the price
- A matched pair of lift cables
- Supporting the door and unwinding the tension
- Re-seating both drums so the door sits level
- Rebalancing
What moves it
Why two quotes differ
| Factor | What it does to the number |
|---|---|
| Whether it came off the track | A snapped cable often drops one side and takes the door off its track. That turns a $220 job into a $400 one. |
| Drum condition | A cable that has been slipping usually grooves the drum. Fitting a new cable to a chewed drum is a repeat visit. |
| What caused it | Cables fray from a misaligned track or a worn pulley. Replacing the cable without fixing that just buys a few months. |
National guide ranges, checked September 2026. Prices move and vary a great deal by state — get it in writing before you commit.
Central Florida
MF Garage Doors
Talk to the people who do the work, not a call centre.
Call (863) 592-2143Repairs and service within 40 miles of Sebring — Avon Park, Lake Placid, Wauchula, Arcadia, Lake Wales, Bartow, Frostproof and Winter Haven.
New doors and replacements across central Florida — Tampa, Orlando, Lakeland, Winter Haven, Kissimmee, Clermont, and everywhere between.
Other costs
Is this your problem
How you know you need it
- The door lifting crooked, one side higher than the other.
- A cable visibly frayed, slack, or off its drum at the top.
- A grinding or slipping noise at the top of the travel.
- The door jammed in the track at an angle, which usually means it has already come off one side.
Before you say yes
What to ask whoever quotes you
- Are you replacing both cables? They have aged together and one new one against one old one is half a job.
- Why did it go? Fraying at the drum is wear; a cable that came off rather than broke is telling you the door was out of balance or hit something, and fitting a new one without answering that means doing it again.
- Are the drums and the bearings worn? They are right there and they are what the cable runs on.
- Are you doing the springs at the same time? If they are the same age, doing both together is one visit instead of two.
Doing it yourself
Can you?
No. The cable anchors in the bottom bracket and that bracket is under full spring tension — it is the part with the warning label on it, and it is the part that injures people.
Also asked
Garage door cable repair cost, answered
Is a cable the same job as a spring?
It is the same area of the door and the same hazard. The cable runs from the bottom bracket to a drum on the spring shaft, and that bottom bracket is under full spring tension — which is why it carries a warning label. Cables are often replaced in pairs and often at the same time as springs, because they have aged together.
Why did it snap?
Usually fraying at the drum or rust at the bottom bracket, and usually after years of it. A cable that comes off rather than breaks is generally telling you the door was out of balance or hit something — fitting a new cable without finding out why solves it until it happens again.
Can I use the door with one cable gone?
No. With one side unsupported the door lifts crooked, jams in the track, and the remaining cable takes a load it was not sized for. Leave it where it is and ring somebody.