I Drove Into My Garage Door – Can It Be Fixed?
Whether you park your car in the garage at the end of the day or simply keep it on the drive in front of your garage door, you’ve probably found that modern vehicles make it a tight squeeze. Plus, we’re all human at the end of the day, which means we can be guilty of overconfidence, making mistakes and losing concentration.
All of this means that bumps and scrapes are a fairly common occurrence. Whether the kids were distracting you, you misjudged the distances or your foot slipped while in gear causing the car to stall, you’re not alone.
We often have people calling us to ask about whether their garage door can be fixed after they have driven into it, and the answer tends to vary case by case — which is why we’re going to cover the topic in a little more detail this month.
What to do if you’ve reversed into your garage door
Everyone has a bad day now and then, but the first thing to do if you’ve reversed into your garage door is to not panic or react wildly, as you could make the situation worse.
Here’s what we recommend you do:
- Make sure everyone is ok – Check the safety of your passengers and take a moment to check in with yourself. Accidents like this happen but it’s important to make sure no one is injured, especially if you have children in the car.
- Turn off the ignition – You’re going to need to get out of the car, but first, remember to turn the engine off so that there is no further risk of injury from the car moving unexpectedly.
- Check the damage – Exit the vehicle and take a look at both your car and garage to assess the damage. You should be able to determine whether it’s safe to move your car forward again and whether the door will still operate.
- Move the car/check the door – From the above point, you can get back in the car and move it forward away from the door. Depending on the extent of the damage, you may want to avoid using the garage door itself.
- Note the damage and call a technician – With the car out of the way, you should try to make an assessment of the damage to accurately describe the issue when calling a garage door repair company. If possible, view the door from the outside of the garage as well as from the inside.
It’s important to make sure you’re absolutely sure the door will raise and lower safely without becoming stuck before attempting to move it. If you’re unsure at all, call our expert garage door repair team here at Doormatic.
Common issues caused by driving into your garage door
Garage doors are robust and designed to stand up to a certain amount of wear and tear, but they aren’t generally expected to withstand the weight of cars. Depending on how heavy your vehicle is and how fast it was moving when it came into contact with the door, you could expect to see any of the following issues:
- Dents and scrapes – Most commonly, cars will tend to dent or scrape the garage door. This may only be cosmetic damage, but it can become an issue if it puts the security of your garage at risk because of any openings created that a thief could take advantage of.
- Broken panels – Panels on a sectional door or slats on a roller door can break under impact, meaning that they will need to be replaced. A broken section could also prevent your door from raising and lowering properly in some cases.
- Warped tracks – Hitting the tracks on either side of the doorway itself means the metal will buckle or warp. This will require repairs as you will be unable to raise or lower the garage door past the point where the damage lies.
- Rollers out of tracks – It’s uncommon, but when you hit a garage door with a car, it could be enough force to push the rollers out of the track itself. This is not easy to rectify without a professional and will likely be combined with some of the other issues we’ve already described, resulting in the need for a replacement garage door.
Can I claim on my insurance?
Many standard home and building insurance policies will cover the garage as standard – and the garage door as a result – so you may be able to claim for structural damage if you drive your car into the door accidentally.
However, some policies may not cover cosmetic damage, meaning you can only claim on your insurance if you’ve actually broken your garage door to the point where it no longer functions.
It’s important to check your individual coverage before taking any action, as policies from different providers can vary. You can read more on the topic of garage door insurance in our previous post.
Can a garage door dent be repaired?
The answer here is slightly tricky. Yes, you can repair a dent in a garage door if you’ve hit it with your car, but it all depends on just how much damage has been done and where the damage is located.
In some instances, it may be easier to replace a portion of the door – such as with a roller or sectional-style door – to restore the look. If you have a large dent that has created a crease, especially close to the edge, this may be harder to reverse.
Overall, we recommend getting a professional opinion before attempting any repairs yourself as you could cause more damage or put your safety at risk.
Here at Doormatic Garage Doors, we have decades of experience in helping homeowners across Surrey, Kent, Berkshire, Devon, Hampshire, West Sussex, London and Buckinghamshire. So if you’ve hit your garage door with your car and need expert assistance to restore it, call today and we’ll provide the right service, whether that’s garage door repairs or replacement.
