A door hanging lower on one side, binding partway up, or with a cable coiled loose on the floor. Cables carry the spring’s force, so a failed one is a bigger problem than it looks. Same-day service, and the price before we start.
Cables are on the truck.
You only pay for the work and parts.
Parts carry the manufacturer's warranty.
City of Indianapolis License #GL2600359. Coverage in place before we start.
Cable failures are quieter than spring failures. Most people notice the door before they notice the cable.
One side sits an inch or two lower than the other, and the gap along the floor is uneven. That’s the side that lost its cable — the spring is still lifting, but only one corner is getting the help.
The door climbs a foot or two, then jams or shudders. With one cable slack, the door pulls against the track instead of riding up it.
Look at the drums at each end of the torsion bar. A cable that came off the drum will be hanging slack, coiled on the floor, or wrapped around the bar in a tangle.
Follow the cable down to where it attaches at the bottom bracket. Individual strands sticking out, a flattened section, or orange staining near the bottom all mean it’s on its way out.
Not sure what you’re looking at? Call (317) 588-0001 and describe it.
Why It Happened
A lift cable is a steel rope running from a bracket at the bottom of the door up to a grooved drum on the torsion bar. It doesn’t lift anything by itself — it transfers the spring’s force down to the door. Most of them are rated well past the life of the springs they work with.
So when one fails, something else usually caused it. A spring that broke and dropped the door hard. A door that came off its track and pulled the cable sideways. A drum that worked loose and let the cable jump the groove. Fixing the cable without finding that cause means doing it again in a few months.
Cables attach inches off the garage floor, and in Indianapolis that floor spends four months of the year wet with snowmelt and road salt dragged in on the car. Salt water sits at the bottom bracket, and corrosion starts at the cable end and works its way up the strands. It’s the most common cable failure we see, and it’s almost always on the side the car parks closest to. Worth checking the bottom few inches of both cables at the end of every winter.
It looks like a piece of rope, which is exactly why people try it. Here’s what the rope is holding.
Everything the torsion spring is holding runs through those two cables. Unhooking one from the drum while the spring is still wound releases that energy into the cable — and the cable goes wherever it wants.
Both drums have to hold identical cable tension or the door climbs unevenly and walks itself off the track. That means unwinding the spring, setting both drums, and re-tensioning — not looping the cable back on.
A door held by one cable is held by nothing predictable. If it’s partway up, it can drop the rest of the way while you’re working under it.
To be direct about what people search for: we don’t publish instructions for reattaching a lift cable. Doing it safely means unwinding a loaded torsion spring first, and that’s the part that injures people. If the door is stuck partway up, clamp locking pliers onto the track below the bottom roller so it can’t come down, and leave the rest. There’s no charge for us to come look at it.
Re-hooking the cable is the easy part. The rest is what keeps it from happening again.
Both cables have the same age, the same cycles, and the same exposure to whatever’s on your garage floor. Replacing one leaves the other to fail on its own schedule, usually within the year.
A cable that came off didn’t decide to. We check the springs, the drums, the track alignment, and the bottom brackets before we put a new cable on — otherwise the new one goes the same way.
The drums get unwound, the cables seated in the grooves, and both sides tensioned to match. A door with uneven cable tension climbs crooked and works its way off the track.
With the opener disconnected, the door should hold its position halfway up and travel evenly on both sides. We check that, and check the rollers and auto-reverse while we’re there.
Cables sit in the middle of the system. When one fails, it’s usually pointing at something else.
Door stuck partway with a loose cable? Dispatch runs 24/7, at the same price.
A spring that let go is the most common reason a cable comes off the drum.
A door that climbed unevenly on a slack cable often ends up off the rail.
An opener that fought a binding door may have stripped its drive gear.
Cable and bracket inspection is part of every tune-up — that’s where rust shows first.
On a door that’s needed a repair a year, replacement often costs less over time.
From the first call to a working door — here’s what to expect.
Tell us what the door is doing and which side is hanging low.
We check the cables, the drums, the springs, and the track alignment.
The repair is quoted before any work starts, and there’s no fee for the visit.
Cables in pairs, both drums re-set, and the door balance-tested before we leave.
Open 24/7 · Same Price. Day or Night. Weekends and holidays included.
Every review below was posted on Google by a homeowner we’ve worked for.
Great price
Amazing work by Ben & Roi with First garage door repair ! They showed up at 8pm and very promptly fixed my broken spring and matched the right size to the door. Now the door is fully repaired and functioning as good as new!!! The price was fair, no hidden fees or other stuff like I've experienced before. I truly recommend if you have any issues with your door and need a repair, call them you won't regret it
We had an emergency with our garage door and needed someone out ASAP. They responded quickly and were able to come out the same day. The technician was friendly, professional, and had everything fixed in no time. Great service, especially when you need help urgently. Highly recommend!
What an amazing company! I called today and spoke w/Ben. within 45 minutes Elior arrived to repair our garage door. It was bowed in the top middle. He adjusted and added support. He then oiled the coils. The garage door now works great! I'll definitely use again when needed and will refer this company to my friends and neighbors.
They showed up on a Sunday 45 minutes after the call and did fantastic work. They are truly the best and very professional.
Great price
Our garage door opener was giving us trouble, so we called First Garage Door Repair of Indianapolis. The technicians came out and got it working again in no time. Really nice guys, great service, and we'll definitely use them again if any future problems may arise!
Ben showed up within 1 hour , fixed my issue and the garage door works perfectly fine! If you need to repair your garage door don't hesitate, call them asap!
Great price
Thank you for coming out in the evening, fast service and highly recommended for everyone who needs emergency garage door service!
Great price
Ben and Roy were super helpful. They helped me get my door up and running again at a very reasonable rate!
Reviews posted on Google
Quick answers to the questions we hear most.
A pair of lift cables runs $150–$300 installed for most residential doors. If a spring failed and took the cable with it, you’re looking at the spring cost on top of that — $500–$800 for a matched pair of springs ($150–$350 on single-spring doors). You get the full price before any work starts, and there’s no service-call fee on top of it.
Yes, we recommend it. The cable that didn’t fail has the same age and wear, so replacing only one usually means a second visit within the year.
No. With one cable loose, the door is being lifted from one corner. Every cycle pulls it further out of square, and it can come off the track or drop. Disconnect the opener and leave it where it is.
Usually, but not always. A cable that slipped or broke is the most common cause. A bent track, a broken roller, or a loose bottom bracket can do the same thing. It takes a look to tell which.
A failed cable is usually a symptom of something else. The usual causes are a broken spring dropping the door, a door coming off track, a loose drum, or rust at the bottom bracket from salt and snowmelt on the garage floor. We find the cause before we put a new cable on.
Doing it safely means unwinding a loaded torsion spring first, then re-setting both drums to matching tension. The spring is the part that injures people, and uneven drum tension is what sends a door off the track a month later.
Same-day service is available and we carry cables in standard lengths, so most cable calls are finished on the first visit. Phone dispatch runs 24/7.
Very likely. We repair residential garage doors of every major brand and door type, including Clopay, Amarr, Wayne Dalton, and C.H.I., on both torsion and extension spring systems.
Still have questions? Call us at (317) 588-0001.
Call and describe the problem, or send a request and we’ll get back to you.
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