How to fix a dented garage door

Garage doors are the surface of your own garage, so when they are dented, they stand outside in a terrible way. There is nothing more frustrating than having something more expensive, like the fact that your garage door stalled, stopped working properly, and interfered with your daily life.

Dents on garage doors happen quite often and you’re in luck, there is a simple fix and you don’t need to be a tool specialist.

Despite the fact that you can pay a repair business to complete the task for you, there is a chance to save some money by doing this work yourself.

What material is the door made of?

If the damaged wood roll up garage doors, then most likely you will not do without the help of professionals. However, if the doors are made of stainless steel or aluminum, small dents can be repaired using the tools and materials available at home.

How to fix dents on aluminum garage doors

Things you will need

Almost all the tools you will use can be found easily at home or in the nearest store.

• Bucket with water
• Soap for washing dishes
• Sponge
• Aluminum foil
• Standard lighter or hairdryer
• Compressed air cylinder

Steps to fix a dented on aluminum  garage door

• Fill a bucket with water. Add some dish soap. Let the sponge soak in water and wipe it over the surface of the dent. Wipe the dent with clean water, and then wait for it to dry.
• Cut a piece of aluminum foil and lay it on top of the dent. Tie it with your hand or glue it with tape if the piece of foil is large.
• Light the lighter and warm the foil over the dent for at least 60 seconds. To distribute heat evenly, drive at a constant speed. Remove aluminum foil.
• Hold the canister with air over the dent upside down. Spray the atmosphere in a dent to get a minimum of 30 minutes. Be sure to keep the jar upside down throughout the procedure. It will release carbon dioxide, the main component.
• Wait about two minutes for the creased area to return to its original position.
• Clean the area where the dent was previously with a sponge and rinse with water.
• Repeat the whole procedure if the dent does not return to its place. This requires special care to get rid of large dents.

Tips

• In case you cannot find a regular lighter or aluminum foil, use a hairdryer to heat the top layer of the dent.
• Select mild and sunny weather to carry out the correction. It is difficult to heat aluminum foil on rainy and windy days.
• Wear protective gloves to protect your hands.

How to fix dents on steel garage doors

Things you will need

• Wooden block
• Rubber mallet
• Putty knife
• Sandpaper
• Putty sealing
• Primer
• Paint
• Brush

Steps to fix a dented on steel garage door

• Before starting work, inspect the garage door for areas where it has been dented and damaged. You do not want to go through the problem of correcting one dent and placing your supplies, just to understand that there are several more that you did not initially notice.
• Rinse the surface thoroughly and let it dry completely, the door should be ready to work in an hour, if you let it dry in the air. Attach a wooden block inside the dent, and then use a rubber mallet to gently tap the wood from the top layer of the dent. This does not have to be perfect, as you still have a couple of steps that will really smooth the area. Just try to drive a dent as best as possible to get a flat surface.
• Take you’re fine sandpaper and sand the area to create a smooth, aligned area that matches the rest of your door. The only difference between the dented area and the rest of the doorway is that you can trim it so that the door surface appears somewhat concave compared to the surface. It will not look like the rest of the doorway, but don’t worry about it right now, as you are going to fill this place and then prime and paint in the region to combine it further.
• Fill in the remaining dent. You can use a universal, ordinary putty or choose the one that is intended for use in the car body because it fixes exactly the same material. Read the putty manufacturer’s instructions to evaluate how long it takes for the putty to completely dry. After the putty has hardened and restored, use sandpaper to sand the area again, making sure that this area is flush with the rest of the door surface.
• Our last measure is to paint the door. But first, you need to apply the primer so that the paint sticks. You may need to draw two coatings so that the area blends seamlessly with the rest of the doorway. If you do not need to use traditional paint in the doors, you can always use spray paint. With spray paint, several additional light layers may be required to combine the problem area.

What to do if you can’t fix the dent yourself

In case you cannot repair a dent on your own garage door, there is always the opportunity to call professionals. Garage door companies specialize in repairing garage dents and solving common problems with the garage door opener system.