How to Remove a Garage Door

By
Lee Wallender
Lee Wallender
Lee Wallender

Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 13 years.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 07/20/22
Reviewed by
Deane Biermeier
Deane Biermeier
Reviewed by Deane Biermeier
Deane Biermeier is an expert contractor with nearly 30 years of experience in all types of home repair, maintenance, and remodeling. He is a certified lead carpenter and also holds a certification from the EPA. Deane is a member of The Spruce's Home Improvement Review Board.
Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board
How to remove a garage door

Don Mason / Getty Images

Project Overview
  • Total Time: 1 - 2 hrs
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Estimated Cost: $10 to $40

Garage door components work hard, so they occasionally break down and need repair or replacement. Not only that, but the door itself is vulnerable to the elements and sometimes needs repainting. While some repairs can be made while the garage door is in place, removing the garage door is necessary with major repairs or replacement. 

Best Garage Door Installation Companies

Before You Begin

Garage doors use either an extension spring or a torsion spring as a counterbalance to help the electric motor raise the door. It's important to identify the type of spring system on your garage door because it affects door removal.

  • Extension springs: Garage door extension springs run perpendicular to the garage door along each side of the garage. Extension springs pull the garage door up.
  • Torsion springs: Garage door torsion springs run parallel to and above the garage door. Torsion springs turn or twist (rather than pull) to help raise the garage door. To remove torsion springs, you will need to purchase a pair of steel winding bars.

Safety Considerations

A double-wide metal sectioned garage door weighs over 200 pounds. Due to the weight of the door and the spring's stored energy, garage door removal can also be very dangerous. Uncontrolled release of the springs can result in serious injury. Removing a garage door is a precise, orderly process. Remove the door without skipping or reversing steps. Wear safety glasses when removing the garage door. 

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • 2 C-clamps or locking pliers
  • Spring winding bars, set (for torsion springs only)
  • Wrench set
  • Safety glasses

Materials

  • 2 scrap two-by-fours

Instructions

When using any method of removing the garage door, first unplug the garage door opener motor to prevent the door from accidentally opening or closing when you are working on it. Make sure that you leave yourself with full access to both sides of the garage door when the door is closed—for example, through the house.

How to Loosen a Garage Door Torsion Spring

  1. Clamp Door in Down Position

    Close the garage door. Attach locking pliers or C-clamps on each side of the door on the track to hold the door in place.

  2. Place First Winding Bar 

    Place one winding bar in a hole on the bottom of the torsion spring tube. The bar should be resting against the garage door header.

    Warning

    Stand to the side of the winding bar.

  3. Loosen Set Screws

    Use the wrench to loosen the set screws on the spring tube.

  4. Place Second Winding Bar

    Place the second winding bar in a hole in the spring tube 90 degrees to the first bar.

  5. Unwind Torsion Spring One-Quarter Turn

    Firmly grasping the second winding bar, remove the first winding bar. The spring will rotate counter-clockwise. Control the rotation with the second winding bar. Let the spring rotate (or loosen) one-quarter turn until the second winding bar is resting against garage door header.

  6. Finish Loosening Spring

    Repeat the previous process of trading winding bars and unwinding the spring in quarter turns until the spring has no more tension.

How to Remove a Garage Door Extension Spring

  1. Clamp Door in Up Position

    Raise the garage door. Lock the door in place with locking pliers or C-clamps. Rest a couple of scrap two-by-fours under the door.

    Tip

    The higher you can raise the garage door, the more tension you release from the extension spring, making removal safer and easier.

  2. Detach Cable

    Detach the wire cable at both sides of the garage door.

  3. Remove Spring and Cable

    The extension spring should now have no tension. Detach the spring and attached cable.

  4. Remove Clamps

    Working with two assistants, hold the garage door in place with one assistant and have the other assistant unclamp the pliers or C-clamps.

  5. Lower Garage Door

    With at least one assistant, slowly lower the garage door onto the two-by-four resting blocks.

    Warning

    Garage doors are heavy! Use extreme caution when lowering the door after the springs are detached. Garage doors start light when you begin lowering them, then become progressively heavier the lower they get. Also, keep fingers clear of the two-by-four resting blocks.

How to Remove Garage Door Panels

  1. Assess Garage Door

    From the inside of the garage, take note of the garage door construction. Garages tend to be composed of four or five sections that stack vertically. Roller hinges hold the door in the track and keep adjacent panels attached. Center hinges help hold adjacent panels together.

  2. Detach First Two Panels

    Start with the top two panels. Use the wrench set to loosen the bolts on all of the hinges that hold the two panels together. Remove the hinges.

  3. Remove Top Panel

    With an assistant, lift the top panel away and set it aside.

  4. Remove Rest of Panels

    Repeat the previous process of removing adjacent panels until all four or five panels have been removed.

When to Call a Professional

Garage doors that employ a torsion spring are more difficult to remove than doors that use an extension spring. Yet either type of spring system is dangerous in its own way: winding bars on torsion springs can fly back at the user with great force and extension springs themselves can become projectiles. So, in the interests of safety, you may want to have a garage door technician remove the garage door.