How To Fix Bent Garage Door: All You Need To Know

Garage doors in your home always need to perform properly so that your home is kept safe and its aesthetics are not hurt. But these doors inevitably suffer a lot of damage over their lifespans, which hamper their operation. When that happens, it creates a lot of inconveniences for you, so you need to repair them ASAP.

One such damage these doors suffer is getting bent. 

So, how to fix bent garage door? The solution to this problem depends on whether the panel of the door is bent or the tracks are. You can fix a bent garage door panel by hammering the dent, filling it out, using suction cups, or heating it. For a bent garage door track, you should turn the garage door off and loosen the bolts. Then using pliers and hammers, you can straighten the tracks. 

Let’s take a deeper look at how to fix bent garage doors. 

How to fix bent garage door panels

Garage door panels are the most important part of the garage door. When people talk about garage doors in Layman’s terms, they most often refer to the panels of the door. These panels can get dents in them due to a few reasons, the most common of which is driving your car against a closed door. 

Not only garaged door panels having dents on them is an eyesore, but they can also seriously harm the operation of the door. Here are a few ways you can fix bent garage door panels. 

1. Hammering out the dents

If you have a metal door, and the dents in your door panels are not very big, you can hammer these dents out. All you need to do is to use a mallet and gently hammer the dent until it becomes smooth. But this method has its issues. 

First, if you use too much force, you might make things worse and create an even bigger dent.

Second, after using a hammer, the place where the dent was becomes weaker. This can result in the same place getting dented again. 

2. Using suction cups

Another good solution to “how to fix bent garage doors?” is to use suction cups. While you have to use the hammer from where the dent is protruding, you need to go to the opposite side to use a suction cup.

Attach the cup to the dent and pull it towards you, which will ensure the dented part gets back in place. 

3. Filling the dent

If you don’t want to risk damaging your garage door by putting too much force on it, then you can fill up the dent. To do this, you first have to sand the dented area, which will remove any sharp edges that are around it. You can then fill the dent with a mixture of auto-body filler and hardening agents.

Once the solution hardens, you need to sand it again to smooth it out. To finish up, you have to paint the area with the color of the door’s paint.

It’s better to paint the entire door to keep the consistency of the color. This is one of the most out-of-the-box methods in our “how to fix a bent garage door panel” guidebook. 

4. Heating the door

Another quick way to repair garage door panels is to use heat. If you heat a piece of metal and cool it quickly, it goes back to its original state, which is the principle that is used here. Cover the dent with an aluminum foil, and apply heat to it.

Once the dent is hot enough, you should use compressed air to cool it. 

Once the door is cooled quickly, the dent should be repaired, and the door should go back to its original form. 

5. Replacing the damaged panel

All of the methods of fixing garage door bend mentioned above are suitable for smaller dents. But if the dent is so big that it is keeping the door from operating smoothly, you should think about replacing the panels.

Especially if your garage door is bent at the top, or the bottom, you can’t operate the door properly, as it will get stuck while opening or closing. 

We, at Infinity Garage Doors, provide top-notch garage door repair services, which also include replacing damaged garage door panels. So, if you deem your dented garage door panel to be irreparable, call us and book our services. 

How to fix bent garage door track

Bent garage door panels may or may not pose issues when it comes to the operation of garage doors, especially if the garage door is bent in middle. But the same can not be said for bent garage door tracks. These metallic tracks are the path that the door follows along when it opens or close.

If there is any bend in them, the door will not close or open all the way, which is not only a big security risk, but quite annoying too. The best way to fix a bent garage door track is to hire a professional garage door repair service.

But if you have the basic technical know-how, and believe you can fix the tracks, here is how to fix a bent garage door track. 

• Stop using the door: Since bent garage door tracks can cause severe accidents, you should stop using the door before fixing the dent. To be safe, you should detach the door from the garage door opener. 

• Loosening the bolts: There are a few metallic bolts that keep the tracks in place. Loosen the bolts so that you can work on the tracks without any issues. But remember not to loosen them too much, or pull them out completely. 

• Straightening the tracks: Now you take a set of pliers and pull on the tracks to straighten them out. After the smaller dents are straightened out, you should use a hammer to totally repair the dents. 

• Finishing up: Once you are done straightening the tracks, you should connect the door to its opener, and operate it a few times. This will show you whether you have done your job perfectly. If you still feel something is off, stop using the door and contact a professional. 

Final Words

Knowing how to fix bent garage doors will come in very handy if the dents are small and in the middle of the garage door. But if you see that the dents are hampering how the door operates, contact us today to repair them. 

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