How to Repair a Garage Door: Top Tips from Garage Experts

A garage door is an essential asset to any home, so understanding how to repair them is important. They can increase the value of your home, provide additional security, and allow for ease of access. They are also a stylistic focal point, and echo the larger style of the home. Garage doors are an engineering marvel, usually consisting of hundreds of individual parts. Because of this, however, when something begins to work improperly, repairing your garage door yourself may seem impossible. Luckily, there are simple fixes at home that can help.

We’ve reached out to garage door experts from Burbank, CA to Naugatuck, CT to share how to repair a garage door and provide answers to some of your most common garage door questions. 

How much does it cost to replace a garage door lock?

Locks help protect your home and personal property. With a lock, a garage door can only be opened from within the house, adding extra security to your important belongings. A broken lock can lead to compromised safety and you being unable to access your garage at all. 

“Cost can vary depending on the style of lock”, advises Ben’s Garage Door and Gates Supply, a garage door supplier in Los Angeles. “A basic garage door key lock may cost around $95-170 to replace, while more advanced electronic locks can cost anywhere from $180 to $350.” 

Make sure to keep an eye out for any problems with your garage door lock, and call an expert if you have questions about how to repair a garage door.

How do you fix a bent garage door?

A bent garage door can be a small aesthetic issue or lead to your garage door not opening at all. There are multiple ways to fix a bent garage door. If the area is small, use a hammer and a wooden mallet to straighten it out, placing the mallet behind the dented area and using the hammer to ease it back into place. Other strategies involve using suction cups – a faster method – or using heat, which is perfect for metal garage doors. If the affected area is large, you may have to replace the entire door. 

Why won’t the garage door open or close?

The average garage door opens and closes about 1,500 times a year, and with every use, the door develops wear and tear. There are a lot of possible reasons as to why your garage door isn’t working. Some common reasons include:

• Broken tension springs: The most common issue, garage tension springs store mechanical energy that controls the movement of the garage door. Over time, these springs wear out and need replacement. To help, inspect your garage door springs once a year to stay ahead of the wear.

• Photo-eye alignment: This is the safety sensor on the garage door. It detects if anything is in the way of the door, and will not move if it senses something. Try inspecting and cleaning the photo eye, removing any possible obstructions in your garage, and making sure the LED lights on both sides of the eye are lit.

• Track alignment: The tracks keep the garage door in line and must be straight and even at all times. If you hear grinding or jerking, your door may be misaligned. Call an expert before it gets worse, as misalignment can lead to complete failure. 

• Disconnected or broken remote control: Most garage doors are controlled remotely. These remotes stop working for a number of reasons, most commonly because of a dead battery or an old garage motor antenna. If your remote is lost or stolen, reset the access code and erase the remote from the garage’s memory. 

How do you fix a garage door dent?

Fixing a garage door dent is a lot like fixing a bent garage door. It generally depends on how large the dent is. If the dent affects a single panel, try using a hammer and mallet to straighten the dent out. Otherwise, a total replacement may be required. “If the panel is still in production it can be more cost-effective to replace the panel instead of the entire garage door,” says Candace of Garage Door Medics, San Diego garage door specialists. “Luckily in most cases, a panel replacement will not require a new opener.”

Other methods include using heat or suction cups to straighten the dent out. These methods are only effective with metallic garage doors, however. Call an expert if you have questions.

How do you fix a garage door panel?

Garage doors are made up of numerous panels. When a garage door panel is struck, rotted, dented, or otherwise damaged, unfortunately, there are limited repair options. Repair is possible if the damage is minor. Repair options include painting over a small section of rot or straightening out a dent. “Most often you have to replace the entire garage door panel,” says David of Rhino Garage Doors, a Connecticut-based garage door company. “The ultimate repair solution for garage door panels is total replacement.”

How do you fix a garage door opener?

A garage door is usually controlled by a remote. This remote connects to the garage door opener and tells it to open and close. If your garage door won’t move, read these expert tips: 

Check the motherboard

All Garage Door and Gates, Hollywood’s premier garage door and gate repair company, recommends calling a professional if you believe the issue lies in the motherboard. “When your garage door opener starts acting up, try changing the batteries of the remote. If the problem persists, or if there are grinding noises with no door movement, it may be an issue with the motherboard. It is best to call a garage door professional to diagnose the problem and offer the best repair options.”

Trust the professionals

One of the keys to professional garage door repair is understanding how garage door openers work. The team at Elite Garage Door & Gate Repair is knowledgeable about the weight of the door, the horsepower of the garage door opener, its age, and the condition of the mechanism. Knowing this allows them to tackle and repair challenging garage door issues. 

Rule out your remote

There are a few options to consider before jumping to the conclusion that you need a new opener. Dr. Garage Door Repair, a professional serving customers throughout California, suggests these tips:

• Make sure the opener is plugged in and the garage circuit breaker is in the correct place.
• Try opening it with the keypad on the door. If it opens, your remote is probably the issue, and a simple battery replacement could resolve it. If the remote still doesn’t work, reprogramming the remote or purchasing a new one should help. 

Call an expert if none of these tips help – you may need to replace your garage door opener.