Pricing guides for door company owners, and field references for techs.
The typical spring job sells for about $200. For most shops that loses money on a paid lead. Here is how to work out your own price from your real costs, and how honest options raise the average ticket.
A price book turns your hourly rate and part costs into a set price for every job, so every tech quotes the same number and every job covers its costs. Here is how to build one, step by step.
Your break-even rate is what one billable hour really costs your business. Here is how to calculate it in 10 minutes, including 2026 payroll costs for Canada and the US, and why billable hours matter more than any single cost.
Two-spring doors need one of each, on the correct sides of the center bracket. How to read wind direction from the wire, the cone color and the mounting side.
Car lift going in? High lift reclaims the ceiling by running the door up the wall before it turns back. Here's the feasibility math, the drum choice, and the spring resize.
A two-minute balance test tells you whether the springs match the door. How to do it safely, how to read it, and what to do about a door that drops or rises.
Headroom is the measurement that decides the whole track package, and the one that kills installs when nobody checked it. The numbers for every lift type, in one place.
Torsion springs are smoother, safer, and longer-lived, but the conversion lives or dies on one measurement. The 12-inch rule, the sizing, and when to walk away.
Cable size comes from the door's weight, and cable length from its height and lift type. The quick rules, the safety margin to check, and when to replace both cables.
The cheapest spring is rarely the cheapest spring. What cycle ratings actually mean, the cost-per-year math, and when a high-cycle upgrade pays for itself.
Two springs cost more up front and are better in almost every way that matters. The math behind single-to-double conversion, and why the conversion is easier than it sounds.
IPPT (inch-pounds per turn) is the number that decides whether a torsion spring balances a door. Here's what it means, how to calculate it from spring measurements, and how to know what IPPT a door needs.
The door opens fine but won't close. The opener light flashes and the door pops back up. Nine times out of ten it's the safety sensors. Here's the five-minute diagnosis.
That blinking LED is the opener telling you exactly what's wrong, in a language nobody bothered to teach you. Here's how to read LiftMaster, Chamberlain, and Genie flash codes.
That paint on the end of the spring isn't decoration. It's the wire size, per DASMA's industry standard. How to read it, and the one trap to avoid.
No calipers, no problem. Here's how to measure all three torsion spring specs (wire size, inside diameter, and length) with nothing but a tape measure.
Step-by-step guide to measuring and sizing torsion springs for sectional overhead doors, including wire gauge charts and IPPT calculations.
A quick-reference checklist covering the 15 most common overhead door problems, from broken springs to misaligned sensors, with links to the right manuals in DoorBot.
Garage door weight decides everything about the springs, and guessing wrong is how springs fail early. Typical weights by size and material, plus how to get a real number in the field.