Garage Door Cable Repair in Ithaca, NY | Garage Door USA
from $149
Garage Door Garage Door Cable Repair Ithaca, NY
Lift-cable replacement, drum re-spooling, and tension recalibration. We pair new cables with a spring inspection so the door is safe and balanced before we leave.
Garage Door Cable Repair is one part of our garage door repair coverage in Ithaca, NY. For the full picture — symptoms, costs, and when to repair vs. replace — start with the complete Garage Door Repair guide, or browse every garage door repair service we offer.
We tailor garage door cable repair to Ithaca's housing and climate. With mostly suburban single-family homes with attached garages, alongside pockets of older in-town housing and a humid continental climate — hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters, with sharp freeze-thaw swings between seasons, the durable choice is rarely the cheapest part — and we'll explain why.
Ask any Ithaca tech and they'll tell you the climate decides what fails. A humid continental climate — hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters, with sharp freeze-thaw swings between seasons brings humid summers that seize hinges and rollers, wide seasonal swings that work bolts loose over time, and doors frozen to the slab on the coldest mornings, year after year.
Run down the service log for Ithaca and the same repairs repeat: ice- and snow-jammed tracks, warped or sagging panels after years of freeze-thaw, openers straining against cold-thickened grease, and corroded low brackets from winter slush. We carry every part needed to close them out in one trip.
Lift cables transfer the spring's stored energy to the door panels — they're under high tension every cycle and degrade slowly through fraying, corrosion, and mis-spooling on the drum. A cable repair visit replaces both cables (always replace as a pair so the door stays balanced), re-spools the drums to the correct number of wraps, recalibrates spring tension to match, and inspects related components like the bottom bracket where one end of each cable terminates.
Cables are galvanized aircraft-grade steel — typically 1/8-inch diameter for residential doors and 3/16-inch for heavier or commercial doors. We carry both diameters along with the bottom-bracket fittings, drum caps, and shaft set-screws that occasionally need replacement alongside the cables.
Cable failure usually leaves the door off-track or hanging crooked. Continuing to operate the opener after one cable has snapped causes the other side to take the full load and is the fastest way to bend tracks or damage panels. Stop the opener and call for repair when you see a frayed or snapped cable — fast service is standard.
Strands of steel poking out of the cable indicate active wear. Cables don't self-heal — frays accelerate to snap.
Door hangs crooked when closed
If one corner is higher than the other when the door is fully down, one cable has stretched, slipped on the drum, or partially failed.
Snapped cable, door stuck
A fully snapped cable leaves the door off-track or jammed. Don't try to force it — call for repair.
Rust streaks on cables
Coastal homes see cable corrosion progress until the strands weaken. Visible rust means the cable is no longer at full strength.
Loud bang followed by crooked door
Cable snap sounds similar to spring snap but is usually quieter. If the door is crooked after the noise, suspect cable failure.
Common causes & what we fix
Mis-spooled drum
When a cable jumps off its drum groove, it crosses over itself and wears at the crossover point. Re-spooling fixes the spool but the wear point becomes the weak link.
Drum cap or set-screw failure
If the drum slips on the shaft, one cable unwinds while the other tries to hold. This sudden imbalance can snap the loaded cable.
Bottom bracket failure
The bracket where the cable attaches at the door bottom occasionally cracks or pulls free, letting the cable whip free under tension.
Coastal corrosion
Salt-air pitting on uncoated cables can drop tensile strength 30–40% over 10+ years. Galvanized aircraft cables resist this far better.
Spring imbalance
An over- or under-tensioned spring puts uneven load on the cables and accelerates wear on the loaded side.
Our process
1
Call or schedule online. Booking garage door cable repair is two clicks or one call: select a 2-hour window and get a named, photo-tagged tech confirmation within five minutes.
2
On-site diagnosis. On arrival we diagnose the garage door cable repair on-site — free for most repairs, $39 on minor service calls (waived if you proceed). You see the issue and the fix before we start.
3
Flat-rate quote. Every garage door cable repair is priced flat-rate and written down before we touch a tool. No hourly meter, no commissioned upsell — the techs earn a salary, not a cut.
4
Same-visit fix. Your garage door cable repair in Ithaca is almost always a single-visit fix — our first-call rate is 96%. We test the door alongside you and leave the space cleaner than we found it.
How much does garage door cable repair cost in Ithaca, NY?
Garage Door Cable Repair for Ithaca homeowners begins at $149. Every quote is written, flat-rate, and good for 30 days; salaried techs mean no pressure to pad the job, and financing is available on bigger projects. Comparing garage door cable repair cost in Ithaca? The written flat rate holds for 30 days, and 0% financing covers the larger jobs.
Garage Door Cable Repair the United States starts at from $149, and we quote garage door cable repair at a flat rate in writing before lifting a tool — no hidden add-ons, no hourly creep. A 10% labor discount applies for seniors (65+) and military, and Synchrony offers 0% APR for 12 months on projects over $1,500, approved quickly with no prepayment penalty.
Why homeowners in Ithaca, NY choose us for garage door cable repair
Ithaca homeowners pick us for garage door cable repair because we're genuinely local to Tompkins County — fast dispatch, familiar faces, and accountability that a far-off call center can't match. Family-owned since 1974, CSLB-licensed (#1098234), and 96% first-call fix rate. Professional garage door cable repair in Ithaca, NY means a named tech at your door and a flat-rate quote before any work starts.
Our work is backed for the long haul: the garage door cable repair workmanship guarantee runs 10 years — separate from any manufacturer warranty on the parts themselves. If the garage door cable repair we performed fails because of how we did it, we come back and fix it free for a full decade. Springs rated for 30,000 cycles carry a lifetime warranty for the original homeowner, and parts and accessories carry standard 1–5 year warranties depending on the item.
Our garage door cable repair quotes in Ithaca are built on honest scope: no padded line items, salaried technicians with no commission to chase, and a transparent diagnostic so you see the real condition of every part. We'll tell you straight whether to repair or replace, and the flat-rate garage door cable repair quote is written and good for 30 days.
Areas we serve for garage door cable repair
We provide garage door cable repair throughout Ithaca, NY and the surrounding Tompkins County area. Serving Fall Creek, Collegetown and surrounding neighborhoods.
Need more than garage door cable repair? Our Ithaca, NY garage door company page is the local hub for every repair, install, and opener job we handle across Ithaca — start there for the full service lineup.
Where you are matters for garage door cable repair: Tompkins County, New York, takes in Ithaca and the communities around it. That's the region our Ithaca techs cover every day.
From Ithaca our garage door cable repair extends to Cayuga Heights, Forest Home, Northwest Ithaca, and South Hill, covering the in-between neighborhoods most one-truck shops skip. Local garage door cable repair in Ithaca, NY and ZIP 14853 — same crew, same flat rate, no travel surcharge for the edges of town.
Garage Door Cable Repair near you in Ithaca, NY
"Garage door cable repair near me" should return a real neighbor, not a lead broker. We're local to Ithaca and the surrounding Tompkins County area, with same-day availability across Fall Creek and Collegetown.
Ithaca is part of our greater Binghamton, NY metro service area.
Our garage door cable repair trucks reach ZIP codes 14853, 14850, 14851 and the nearby area. Since Ithaca conditions change garage door cable repair reach times hour to hour, we hold the ETA until you call and can give you a real one. The dispatch line goes straight to an on-call tech, never to voicemail. For local garage door cable repair in Ithaca, NY, including 14853, we route the nearest stocked truck straight to your door.
Frequently asked about garage door cable repair
Top questions homeowners searching for Garage Door Cable Repair near me ask us:
Yes. Tompkins County, New York, takes in Ithaca and the communities around it, and we work the whole footprint: Ithaca plus nearby Cayuga Heights, Forest Home, Northwest Ithaca, and South Hill. Same licensed, insured crews and 10-year workmanship guarantee county-wide.
Our Ithaca coverage spans Fall Creek and Collegetown — including ZIPs 14853, 14850, 14851. Not sure we reach your block? Call (213) 221-2882; if you are in Ithaca, we will get to you.
No — running the opener with a failed cable bends tracks and risks the door coming off the rail entirely. Disconnect the opener and avoid using the door until repair.
Cable repairs are quoted flat-rate before starting; the figure depends on whether the drums or a bottom bracket also need replacement. No surprises once you approve the written quote.
Most cable jobs run 45–60 minutes including spring tension verification and balance test. Add 15 minutes if drums also need replacement.
5 years on cables and drums. 10-year workmanship on the install. Galvanized cables in coastal homes typically last well beyond it.