Torsion breaker

The house's garage door opener stopped working last Sunday. As it turns out, one of the two torsion springs above the 200-pound, 24-gauge, 2-car door had broken. We became victims to fine language distinctions when we were informed that the home warranty company covers the opener itself, but not any other parts. (This kind of thing has happened before. They cover faucet leaks, but not when the faucet has succumbed to wear and tear. Who writes these policies? Oh yeah, my colleagues.)

I considered buying and replacing the part myself. The repairmen who came to the house to tell me the home warranty didn't help (and thanks for the dispatch fee) mildly hinted that the do-it-yourself option was not recommended. A quick Google search (with links like the one above) reinforced that notion by adding words like "deadly," "maimed," and "skydiving is safer." Then they proceeded to mock this guy who had done it himself and had chronicled at length how anyone else can too. Point taken.

The repairmen quoted a price of $160 to replace both springs. I told them I'd shop around. For now we've disabled the door so we can open it manually, and keep the cars outside.