On Friday, July 24, 2015 at 12:51:41 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2015 17:45:22 -0700, NedFlanders
wrote:

So one of the springs (one per garage door - there are two doors) has
snapped after 30+ years (they just don't make things like they used to)

I have been doing the work of the spring to put my truck away at night
(not leaving it out in this neighborhood).

Now I am sure I could replace the spring myself... I used to rewind the
cables and/or reset and balance the dual springs on a condo garage door
in my past (so I am sure I know what I am doing - I have seen all of the
warnings). But, these doors are 30+ years old. They are showing some
signs of rot along the bottom (Noted when I replaced the weather
stripping last summer) and the openers are original to the home...

I am trying to decide if it is time to get new metal doors, new hardware
and openers? From what I can see on-line all in I am probably looking at
$900 - $1400 CAD per door (installed).

Does anyone have recent experience or thoughts?

Thanks!

Are they torsion springs or the old tension type. The old ones are
easy, with the door up, it should be slack.
Torsion springs are tougher since you are usually winding them up to
full load. and you have to unwind the good one to get the bar off.
You will need some 1/2" cold rolled steel bars to wind them up and
safely unwind the good one. I bought a 3' stick at the hardware store
and cut it in half. You stick one in a hole in the hub and start
winding or unwinding. Take a quarter turn, stick in the second bar,
hold it while you pull out the first one and just keep going like that
until you have it unwound. It will help later if you count the turns
it took to unwind.
You want to wind them up until you have reduced the weight on the door
to a point where you can open it easily. Tighten up the locking screws
and try it. You are looking for the balance of easy to open and not
pushing too far that way when you are at the top so it will close
easily. Most of this is being sure you have the right spring.
Duplicating the original number of turns is a good starting point.

since the door is in aged / poor condition your better off replacing at least one, then the other if money is tight.

at home resale old garage doors can hurt, and at least you get to enjoy the new door.

plus new openers have sensors to keep a kid from being crushed.