Ann Arbor particulars
Ann Arbor's median home value is $435,100. The city's Building & Construction Services, at City Hall, 301 E. Huron St, takes permits through STREAM and answers at 734-794-6263. The Statewide Jurisdiction List names the city itself as the enforcer. Ann Arbor's published permit pages are silent on garage doors, so the office is the source for whether a swap needs a permit. In Ann Arbor, 64.3 percent of homes were built before 1980.
Whatever door hangs in an older garage, test the opener: the federal standard says a downward-moving door must start to reverse within 2 seconds of contact with an obstruction. If it grinds on, stop using the opener and call. Water under the door is the other thing to check. DASMA's technical sheet says rainwater commonly runs under the bottom of exterior-facing sectional doors, and that the fixes are a slightly sloped sill or a notch in the slab with a floor seal. When a contractor finishes, MCL 570.1110 lets you ask for a sworn statement listing subcontractors, suppliers and unpaid laborers. Ypsilanti is 6.0 miles away.
Spring replacement in Ann Arbor: what to know
DASMA says older doors should have their springs inspected by a professional technician, and it calls springs arguably the most dangerous part of the door. Ask what the visit covers, whether both springs are replaced on a two-spring door, and whether an extension-spring door has the safety cable DASMA describes.
Permits run through Building & Construction Services at 301 E. Huron St, 734-794-6263, with applications on the city's STREAM portal. Nothing from Ann Arbor that we can cite covers garage doors or springs, so ask them whether a spring swap needs a permit. Put the permit answer and the scope of work in writing before the visit.
Permits for spring replacement in Ann Arbor
No Michigan source we can cite answers the permit question for spring replacement.
Many cities run their own building department, so start by asking the City of Ann Arbor building department who issues garage door permits.
Spring problems that cannot wait
- The door will not lift and a car or person is inside the garage.
- The door falls, or drops when released.
- A cable is loose or hanging.
- The property is open and unsecured overnight.
- Wanting an inspection of an older door's springs. DASMA says older doors should have springs inspected by a professional technician.
What to do before you call
Try this first: phone Building & Construction Services and ask whether replacing springs alone needs a permit.
- Keep clear of the door and do not try to lift it.
- Unplug the opener or switch it off.
- Photograph the spring and the opener label from a safe distance.
- Note if you see one spring or two.
- Try the spring life calculator if you know the spring's rated cycles; it is arithmetic, not a prediction.
What spring replacement costs
The estimate below is the Michigan-wide one, adjusted for Michigan wages and not for Ann Arbor in particular. The same table is on the spring replacement page. How we estimate costs. Prices as of Oct 19, 2026.
| Item | Figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated range, not a quote | $155 to $330 per job, both springs | Built from two national published ranges, adjusted by the Michigan garage door technician median wage ratio (0.94). Too few Michigan garage door companies publish a price to show a range, so none is shown. |
| Estimated range for extension springs, not a quote | $95 to $215 per job, both extension springs | Built from one national published range, adjusted by the Michigan garage door technician median wage ratio (0.94). Too few Michigan garage door companies publish a price to show a range, so none is shown. |
| Isabella Garage Door, Mt. Pleasant: spring replacement, as the company publishes it | $395 to $525 for a pair of springs; $325 to $395 for a single spring | Read on the company's own pricing page on Oct 19, 2026. One company's price, not a Michigan range and not a quote. Larger or heavy-duty doors need bigger springs and cost more, the company says. |
| Michigan median hourly wage, mechanical door repairers | $25.18 an hour | Nearest BLS code (49-9011, mechanical door repairers), read through O*NET OnLine. Pay, not price. |
| Michigan 25th to 75th percentile hourly wage | $21.73 to $33.03 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Michigan median annual wage | $52,370 a year | Pay, not price. |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn median hourly wage | $24.12 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood median hourly wage | $28.65 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Kalamazoo-Portage median hourly wage | $29.42 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Lansing-East Lansing median hourly wage | $30.96 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| United States median hourly wage, same occupation | $26.79 an hour | Same occupation, national, comparison only. Pay, not price. |
How we estimate costs: the Estimated range row is a model, not a quote. It takes two published national ranges for this job (cost guides from third-party sites that we have not verified and do not cite) and multiplies them by Michigan's garage door technician median wage ratio to the US (0.94, BLS May 2025 data read through O*NET OnLine, using mechanical door repairers as the nearest occupation). The wage rows in the table are what that occupation is paid, which is not a price. Where a Michigan company publishes a price, it only keeps the low end of the range from sitting above it. We have not collected quotes, and only two Michigan garage door companies published a regular dollar price we could count, so no range of Michigan prices is shown. A real quote can land outside the range. Full method.
Questions about spring replacement
Can I replace the spring on my garage door myself?
DASMA says no: spring systems are dangerous and should be repaired only by trained professionals. The federal rule's required instructions also say to have a qualified service person make repairs to cables and spring assemblies.
Can you replace just one spring on a garage door?
If the door has two springs, DASMA says to replace both, even if one is not broken. That prevents damage when the second breaks and keeps the door working efficiently.
Is it worth fixing a garage door spring?
A door with a broken spring is not safe to run, so the question is who repairs it and what you pay. DASMA says to use trained professionals. Ask for the repair price and a price for a new door on the same visit; our repair or replace tool lists the questions.