2026-03-14 7 min read
March in Griswold means one thing: winter is finally loosening its grip. The freeze-thaw cycles that define a New London County winter. temperatures swinging from the low 20s overnight up into the 40s during the day. are hard on a lot of things, and your garage door is near the top of the list. If you haven't given it a once-over since November, now is the right time. Not next month. Now.
The homes around Griswold. the raised ranches off Route 138, the Colonial-era properties near Pachaug Pond, the Cape Cods tucked into the wooded stretches of town. all share attached garages that work hard every single day. Most homeowners don't think about them until something goes wrong. This post is about making sure nothing does.
Connecticut winters aren't the harshest in New England, but they're punishing in a specific way. It's not just the cold. it's the constant cycling. Metal contracts in the cold and expands as it warms back up. Do that a few hundred times over the course of a winter and you've put real stress on springs, cables, hinges, and tracks.
On top of that, freeze-thaw cycles create moisture problems. Water gets into small gaps around weatherstripping, freezes overnight, and expands. widening those gaps further. Ice can form inside tracks, causing your door to bind or stick mid-cycle. That strains your opener motor in ways it wasn't designed to handle.
Here's something worth understanding: frozen lubricants and track ice cause mechanical binding in ways that aren't obvious until a component fails. Grease that works fine in September becomes sluggish paste by January.
You don't need special tools for most of this. Walk through it on a dry afternoon when you can see and hear clearly.
Torsion springs sit above the door on a horizontal bar. Extension springs run along the tracks on either side. Both do the same job: they carry most of the weight of your door so the opener motor doesn't have to.
What you're looking for: - Any visible gap in the coil (a 2,4 inch gap in a torsion spring means it's broken) - Rust, which shows up as reddish-brown patches or flaking metal, Uneven coil spacing. sections that look stretched out versus bunched together
If your door feels unusually heavy when you disconnect the opener and lift it by hand, that's a dead giveaway that spring tension is off. A properly balanced door should stay in place when you raise it halfway and let go.
Do not attempt to adjust or replace springs yourself. They store tremendous mechanical energy, and a spring that releases unexpectedly can cause serious injury. This is a call-a-professional situation, full stop.
The lift cables run from the bottom corners of the door up to a drum near the spring. Inspect them for fraying. individual wire strands sticking out like whiskers. or visible rust. A frayed cable can snap without warning, dropping a 150,300 pound door. If you see any fraying at all, stop using the door and get it looked at.
Run your hand along the bottom seal with the door closed. Feel for gaps where cold air (and water) could get in. Check the side and top weatherstripping for cracking or sections that have pulled away from the frame. Replacing weatherstripping is one of the few genuinely easy DIY garage door tasks. it's inexpensive and the difference in draft and moisture control is immediate.
Open and close the door a few times while you watch and listen. You're paying attention to: - Grinding or scraping. often a track alignment issue - Squealing. usually dry rollers or hinges that need lubrication - Rattling. loose hardware, which is common after winter - Jerky or uneven movement. potential spring imbalance
For lubrication, use a lithium-based spray or silicone lubricant on the rollers, hinges, and the torsion spring bar. Avoid WD-40. it's a solvent, not a true lubricant, and it'll dry out quickly. Also, never spray lubricant on the tracks themselves; that causes slipping.
Steel doors can develop rust spots or dents from winter storm debris. Wood doors. still common on some of the older Colonial-style homes in the area. can show warping or panels that no longer meet squarely. Check every hinge for loose fasteners and tighten anything that wiggles.
There's a clear line here. Lubricating hinges, tightening loose bolts, replacing weatherstripping. those are homeowner tasks. Anything involving springs, cables, or track realignment is not. The reason isn't that it's technically impossible. it's that the risk of injury is real and the tools required are specialized.
If you're in Griswold and something looks off after your inspection, Griswold Garage Doors can assess what you're dealing with before it becomes an emergency. Spring service calls scheduled in March cost significantly less than emergency calls in May when every local technician is booked solid. You can also check our frequently asked questions if you're trying to figure out whether what you're seeing warrants a call.
For homeowners in Norwich, Ledyard, or anywhere else in New London County reading this. the same advice applies. The freeze-thaw math is the same across the region.
Q: How do I know if my garage door spring is broken versus just needing lubrication? A: A broken spring usually announces itself. either with a loud bang when it snaps, or with a door that suddenly feels extremely heavy or won't open at all even when the opener runs. Dry springs squeal or squeak but the door still operates. If the door won't lift or feels like it weighs twice as much, suspect a broken spring.
Q: My garage door opens about a foot and then stops. What's going on? A: This is often a safety sensor issue (something blocking the photo-eye beam near the floor) or a limit switch problem with the opener. But it can also mean a partially failed spring that doesn't have enough tension to complete a full cycle. Check the sensors first. they're the most common culprit. and if they look clear, have the springs inspected.
Q: How often should I lubricate my garage door hardware? A: Twice a year is the standard recommendation. once in the fall before temperatures drop, and once in the spring after a winter like ours in New London County. If your door is making noise between those intervals, don't wait. Dry metal-on-metal contact accelerates wear.