DIY Minor Garage Door Dent Repairs

Want to know if you can fix the dents in your garage door panels by yourself? Depending on how much damage has been inflicted, there’s still a chance that it can be easily fixed without the help of a professional.

Small to medium-sized dents on the door panel could possibly be repaired by following our tried and tested DIY method. With the right steps and preparation, you will get your garage door looking as good as new in no time.

Preparation

Before starting the actual repair process, you need to do a thorough inspection of the garage door condition. This will allow you to determine whether the root cause of the dents have produced other issues like causing the door panels to become misaligned.

After that, check on the size and number of dents, there are chances of more than one dent created during the accident. If the dent size is no bigger than width of your arm, then it’s considered a small to medium size dent. But if it’s more than that you should call for professional help.

Additionally, you need to understand that most of the garage door panels installed in residential areas are made of metal such as aluminium which is one of the more flexible materials.

DIY Methods to Repair Minor Garage Door Dents

Depending on the material of your garage door, there are three methods that you can use to repair the minor dents using common household tools.

1. Hammer/Mallet Method

This technique can be applied to garage doors made of aluminium because the malleability of the material allows them to be reshaped easily using the force of impact. This is how the professionals do it:

• – Clean the dented area to recognise it easily
• – Prepare a mallet and wooden plank
• – Situate yourself on the opposite side of the dent
• – Place the wooden plank on the bulging area of the dent
• – Hammer it with a controlled force until the dent disappears

The wooden plank acts as the balance for the aluminium to return to its normal alignment (a straight surface). There are certain cases where the dent is so deep that it requires the use of fine-grit sandpaper to smooth things up.

2. Suction Cups Method

You might not believe it but some professionals use a simple suction cup to repair minor dents in their clients’ garage door because it works well and is easy to carry out. This method can also be used when fixing the small dents on a car.

With the use of a strong suction cup, you can easily correct the dings and bumps on the metallic door panels. However, due to the size of the suction cup, you might only able to repair small dents, probably the size of your palm or less.

3. Heat and Cold Method

Your dented panels are made of metal so reshaping it using fluctuating temperatures could easily repair it. This is another way that professionals fix dents:

• – Prepare aluminium foil, a heat source such as a lighter and a can of compressed air
• – Wash and clean the dented area
• – Place the aluminium foil over the dented area
• – Heat it with your heat source for 1-3 minutes
• – Remove the foil and quickly spray it with compressed air to cool it down for 1 minute
• – The reaction from carbon monoxide will pop the panel into the correct place

Major Garage Door Dent Repairs

This is where the DIY strategies are not going to work because major dents could affect other garage door parts such as tracks and cables. Professionals in garage door repairs like the team of All Time Garage Doors should be called to prevent any further damage to the doors and to the garage itself, reach us now.