Dents in garage doors are some of the most common structural issues that garage owners experience. In this blog entry, the Chicago garage door repair professionals here at Garage Door Repair Chicago will detail the best ways to repair dented garage door panels.
How Garage Doors are Commonly Dented
The majority of garage doors are manufactured with steel and aluminum due to those metals’ durability and lack of need for regular maintenance. However, the drawback of these two metals are that they are easily dented. A ton of things can dent garage doors – from car accidents to animals and weather! Wind, hail, snow, and rain can eventually cause garage doors to degrade and begin to buckle. If your garage door doesn’t receive annual maintenance, this degradation process happens much faster. It’s very easy to get into an accident with your garage if your garage door doesn’t fully open, or if you can’t see the entirety of your garage door in your vehicle’s blind spot. If you leave objects in the path of your garage door or track, serious damage might occur – even with an item as small as a soccer ball or basketball.
Can Garage Door Dents be Fixed?
If your garage door is dented, examine the damage in order to figure out whether the garage door can be repaired by you yourself. Check if the garage door still opens and closes. Be careful opening the door, as there’s a high degree of tension in your garage door assembly. If the door doesn’t open or close, you’ll need the assistance of a professional Chicago garage door repair expert. It’s usually harder to fix dents in wooden garage doors than in steel or aluminum garage doors.
Fixing Dented Garage Door Panels
There’s a few methods that you can use to fix a small garage door dent. You can try hammering the dent with a hammer by first cleaning the dented area with soap and water, and using a wooden block and rubber mallet. Hold the wooden block against the dent, and hammer the area with the mallet until it evenly matches the surrounding panels. You can additionally use heat to fix the garage door panel. Wash and dry the panel, and place aluminum foil over the dent. Use a lighter – for 60 seconds – to heat up the surface of the aluminum foil, then quickly remove it. Then spray the dent with compressed hair for 30-60 seconds to see if it fixes the issue.
