Last Thursday I changed a spring on a 1944 cottage in Burkeville — one of the original wartime Boeing-worker houses on Wellington Crescent. Single-car detached garage. Standard 8×7 sectional. The spring snapped at 5 a.m. the night before. The homeowner had been quoted $1,650 by the first company she called. She called us because her neighbour's roof was getting redone by my dad's other neighbour, and Burkeville is a small place.

I charged her $385 for the pair.

The job took 42 minutes. The wholesale cost of the springs on my truck was $94 for the pair (corrosion-coated, because Burkeville is on Sea Island and the salt air is brutal). I'm writing this post because she asked me, after I was done, "How can the other guy charge $1,650? Is he just bad at math?"

He's not bad at math. He's very good at math. He's running the scam from post 3. This post is the cost breakdown that makes the scam visible.

The wholesale spring market in 2026

There are six things that determine what a torsion spring costs at wholesale:

  1. Inside diameter (ID). Residential springs are almost always 1.75" or 2" ID. Larger doors and some commercial use 2.625" or 3.75".
  2. Wire gauge. Thicker wire = stiffer spring = heavier door support. Residential is typically 0.207" to 0.262". I read this off the data tag wound into the cone end.
  3. Length. Measured in inches when relaxed. Common residential lengths: 24" to 36". Length and wire gauge together determine the spring's lift force at a given turn count.
  4. Cycle rating. 10,000 (stock builder grade), 20,000–25,000 (good upgrade), 50,000 (commercial light duty), 100,000 (commercial heavy duty).
  5. Coating. Black oxide (stock), galvanized, oil-tempered + dipped (premium residential), IPPC-90 corrosion-coated (waterfront upgrade).
  6. Direction of wind. Left-hand and right-hand wound. They come in pairs and the directions matter — never put two of the same wind on a door.

Here are real 2026 wholesale prices I pay my distributor, in Canadian dollars, taxes excluded:

Spring type Wholesale
Standard 10K-cycle, 2" ID, black oxide $38–$58 each
25K-cycle upgrade, 2" ID, galvanized $58–$82 each
IPPC-90 corrosion-coated, 25K-cycle $78–$112 each
50K-cycle commercial light $108–$165 each
100K-cycle commercial heavy $185–$285 each

My distributor is in Surrey. I drive out roughly every six weeks to top up. Springs are not exotic. They are not allocated. They are not "special order" unless you have a non-standard door.

What goes into the install price

The wholesale cost of the part is the cheapest part of the job. Here is the actual breakdown for a standard residential spring pair, installed by my shop in 2026:

Parts: $80–$160 for a pair, depending on grade.

Labour: 35–55 minutes on-site. The drive is another 15–30 minutes each way depending on which Richmond neighbourhood. Total: roughly 80–110 minutes of fully-loaded technician time.

Truck and overhead: insurance, fuel, vehicle wear, dispatch software, accounting, WCB premiums, the rent on the shop on Moncton. Spread across the job that's somewhere between $75 and $120 per call.

Margin: every business needs to make money or it stops existing. A fair shop margin on a residential spring job is 25–35%.

Add it all up and you land at a fair price of $325 to $625 for a residential pair, depending on the spring grade and the neighbourhood.

I charge $385–$525 for most of these jobs. If the door is over 16 feet wide, or has unusually high lift requirements, or needs a IPPC-90 corrosion-coated upgrade in Steveston, the number can go to $625. I have never, in 1,240 service calls, charged over $700 for a standard residential pair.

Where the $1,800 number comes from

The $1,800 quote isn't math. It's pricing strategy.

The strategy is: convince the customer they have a "special" door that requires "premium" parts. Quote the part at 8 to 12 times wholesale. Add a "service surcharge" that exists nowhere in the legitimate trade. Tell the customer the work has to happen today.

Run the numbers backwards from $1,800: - $300–$500 of that is "parts" (a $48 spring marked up 10x) - $600–$900 is "labour" (a 45-minute job billed as 4 hours) - $200–$400 is a "surcharge" (emergency / weekend / Richmond-specific / "premium installation") - The remaining $200–$500 is pure profit on top of an already-3x-marked-up job

This is the business model. It's not a one-off bad quote. It's the entire reason these operators exist. The math works for them because most customers don't call a second company.

Why two springs is the right answer

When one spring on a two-spring door breaks, the other is on the same fatigue curve. They were installed the same day. They've taken the same cycles. They've sat in the same Richmond humidity. The remaining one is statistically 6 to 14 months from also breaking.

Replacing both at once costs about 25% more than replacing one. Replacing them separately costs you two service calls — roughly 75–90% more total.

I always quote the pair. I'll do one if the customer insists, but I tell them what I just told you, and I document the conversation on the invoice.

Cost reality check (2026, Lower Mainland CAD) - One residential torsion spring, installed: $245–$385 - Pair, installed (recommended): $385–$625 - IPPC-90 corrosion-coated upgrade for waterfront homes: add $120–$220 - 25,000-cycle high-life upgrade (worth it on heavily-used doors): add $80–$140 - 50,000-cycle commercial spring on a residential door (overkill but common request): $525–$785 per pair - After-hours emergency: add $185–$285 - Travel surcharge to Burkeville / Sea Island / outer Steveston (we don't charge one, but some shops do): $45–$95

What "lift capacity" means and why it matters

A spring's lift capacity is the force it provides to counterbalance the weight of the door. Get this wrong and the door is unbalanced. An unbalanced door:

A door's required spring force depends on door weight, door height, and the moment arm of the torsion tube. For a typical 16×7 double residential steel door weighing roughly 65 kg, the right spring is a pair of 2" ID, 0.243" wire, 32" length, 10K-cycle. That's a spring I recognize by sight at 6 paces.

Most Richmond residential doors fall into 4 or 5 common spring combinations. I carry all 5 on the truck. So does any decent local operator.

The IPPC-90 question for waterfront Richmond

If you live in Steveston, Burkeville, Terra Nova within sight of the dyke, or any south-west-facing Richmond home that takes onshore wind off the Strait, here's my recommendation:

Pay the upgrade for IPPC-90 corrosion-coated 25K-cycle springs.

The math: standard 10K-cycle in a waterfront home will last 5–8 years before corrosion forces replacement. IPPC-90 25K-cycle in the same home will last 11–16 years before either corrosion or cycle count forces replacement. The upgrade cost is $120–$220. You save the cost of one full spring service call over the door's lifetime (typically 18–25 years for a steel sectional). The math is clean.

Inland Richmond — Saunders, McLennan, central Hamilton, East Cambie — IPPC-90 is nice-to-have but not necessary. Standard galvanized 25K-cycle is plenty.

What to ask when you're getting a quote

Three questions. Memorize them.

  1. "What's the wire gauge and inside diameter of the spring you're installing?" — A legitimate tech answers in 5 seconds with specific numbers ("0.243 wire, 2 inch ID"). A scammer fumbles and says "it's a premium-grade spring for your door."
  2. "What's the cycle rating?" — Real answer: 10K, 25K, 50K, or 100K. Scam answer: "high-cycle" or "commercial-grade" without a number.
  3. "How long is the warranty on the spring itself?" — Real answer: 1 year on labour, 3–5 years on the spring (manufacturer pass-through). Scam answer: "lifetime guarantee" with no paperwork.

Get all three answers in writing. If they refuse to write it down, that's your sign.

That's the post.

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