A snapped or slipped lift cable leaves the door hanging crooked and out of square. It is a quick repair when it is caught early and an expensive one when it is not.
Symptoms
The two lift cables run from the bottom corners of the door up to drums on the spring shaft, and they carry the whole weight of the door in tension. When one lets go, the door tells you immediately.
The clearest sign there is. A cable has gone slack or come off its drum on one side, so that corner drops and the door is no longer square in the opening.
Look at the bottom corners. A cable that has come off the drum or snapped will be lying slack against the track or coiled at the floor.
Rust and moisture at the bottom of the door chew through cable. Broken strands sticking out like a wire brush mean it is days or weeks from failing, not months.
A loose cable can climb over its own coils on the drum. That shortens one side of the lift and racks the door on the next cycle.
If the door was run after a cable let go, the low corner can pull a roller out of the track. That turns a cable repair into a re-rail as well.
A spring failure frequently takes a cable with it. Both get replaced together while the door is unloaded, which is much cheaper than two separate visits.
Understanding
Each lift cable is a length of braided steel running from a fixture at the bottom corner of the door, up the side of the opening, to a grooved drum on the spring shaft. As the springs unwind, the drums wind the cables in and the door goes up. The cables never lift anything by themselves. They pass the work of the springs down to the bottom of the door, which is why both sides have to be exactly the same length with exactly the same wrap.
Cable is a wear part. It is thin, it is under constant tension, and it sits at the wettest, saltiest part of the whole door. Water running off a car in February pools at the bottom corners, and that is precisely where the cable is anchored. Rust works into the strands, the strands break one at a time, and eventually the last few let go at once.
The second common cause is slack. If the door lands on something on the way down, or if the drums were never set evenly, one cable goes loose while the other stays tight. A loose cable can jump its groove and wrap over its own coils, which shortens that side by an inch or two and racks the whole door on the next lift.
None of that is expensive to put right while the cable is still on the drum. It becomes expensive once the door has been run against it, because a racked door pulls rollers out of the track, bends the track, and can crease the bottom section.
The Repair
A cable job is not just a new cable. The door has to come back square, and the reason the cable failed has to be dealt with or the new one goes the same way.
Pricing
Real 2026 ranges for the London area. A row naming one job is the all-in price for it before HST: the parts, the labour, the visit and the balance check afterwards, on a typical residential door.
| Cable job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Lift cables, replaced as a pair | $130 to $350 |
| Door put back on its track after a cable failure | $150 to $280 |
| Track realigned or repaired | $150 to $350 |
| Service call on its own | $85 |
Your garage may sit outside these ranges. Door size and weight, spring rating, how much has been damaged and how easy the garage is to work in all move the number, and we tell you before we start, not after. Cables are usually done during a spring job, because the door is already unloaded and it saves paying for a second visit. More detail is in our lift cables guide and the cable drums guide.
Service Area
We cover London and the surrounding area: St. Thomas, Strathroy, Dorchester, Komoka, Ilderton, Lucan, Belmont and Thorndale. The prices on this page are for the London area; somewhere further out can carry a small travel charge, and we tell you that when you book. If you are just outside the area and not sure, call 519-619-7901 and ask. We would rather tell you straight away than have you wait for a callback that says no.
Questions
No. All of the weight is now on one side, which racks the door, bends the track and can pull the door out of its tracks entirely. Leave it where it is and do not run the opener.
Lift cables replaced as a pair are $130 to $350 all in before HST for a typical residential door, including the parts, labour, service call and balance check. If the springs are being done at the same time, the cables add very little.
They were fitted on the same day and have lifted the same door the same number of times. The surviving cable is at the same point in its life, so replacing the pair avoids a second call-out.
Rust from water sitting at the bottom of the door, a door running out of balance, a worn or damaged drum, and simple age. Cable is a wear part on a door that is opened several times a day.
It is the stage just before. A cable that has come off its drum or gone slack means the door is already lifting unevenly. It is a cheaper repair caught now than after it pulls the door off track.
Leave it closed, do not run the opener, and give us a call. A cable caught early is a small job.
📋 Book a Cable Repair 📞 Call 519-619-7901