Fix it
Garage door hanging crooked
A door hanging out of level is a cable or drum problem almost every time, and it is a warning rather than a cosmetic issue. One side is now carrying more than its share, and the next thing to happen is usually the door coming off the track altogether.
Do this first
Stop using it. A crooked door under power is how a track gets bent and a panel gets destroyed. If a car is trapped, get two people on it after pulling the release.
Before you touch anything
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.
Need it today?
MF Garage Doors
Door stuck, spring gone, car trapped — ring, do not fill in a form.
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.
0 of 3 are yours to fix
What it usually turns out to be
| Cause | How to tell | What happens next | Yours? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A cable has slipped off its drum | Slack cable on the low side, tight on the high side. | The door is supported, the tension is unwound, both drums are re-set to match. | Call somebody |
| One spring has broken on a two-spring door | The door is heavy as well as crooked, and there is a gap in one coil. | Both springs replaced together. | Call somebody |
| A roller has left the track | It went crooked suddenly, usually after a knock. | An off-track reset, and the rollers and track checked along their length. | Call somebody |
What it costs
$175 – $400
For an off-track reset and inspection. National guide range, checked September 2026 — get it in writing.
Other faults
The repair
What actually happens on the visit
- Stops the door being used immediately. A crooked door is a door with uneven cable tension, and running it makes it worse fast.
- Finds which side is low and why — a cable off its drum, a cable that has stretched, or a roller out of the track.
- Releases spring tension to reseat the cable, which is the step that makes this a trade job rather than a weekend one.
- Re-tensions both sides evenly and checks the door sits square at every point in its travel, not just closed.
How long it takes. An hour or two. Longer if the door was run crooked for a while and a section is bent.
Next time
Can you stop it happening again?
Sometimes. Cables fray visibly for months before they go, and an annual look at the drums and the bottom brackets catches it. A door knocked out of square by a vehicle is not preventable.