Did you recently have an accident where you hit your garage door, which dented one of the panels? Thankfully, you don't have to replace the entire garage door to fix it. Here are a few tips for replacing the damaged panel on your own. 

Secure The Door To The Frame With Vice Grips

The first thing that you'll want to do is make sure that the door is secure and not going anywhere. The best way to do this is to use two pairs of vice grips. You attach the door to the frame so that it won't move at all, which allows you to make repairs to the damaged section below the vice grips. 

Loosen The Spring

The spring at the top of the door is what puts the tension on the cables that attach to the door. You can actually turn that spring so that the tension on the cable is reduced significantly. You'll need a torsion spring bar tool that will help you turn the spring and hold it in a loose position.

Remove The Hinges

There are going to be several screws on the hinges that hold the broken panel to the panels above and blow it. You'll need to remove all the screws from these hinges. If there is a manual lock on that specific panel, you'll need to remove the lock as well. The hinges should then come off the damaged panel and allow you to lift it right out of the garage door. 

Install The Replacement Panel

The replacement panel can be put right back onto the door in the same way that you took off the old one. You will place it in the open section of the garage door, and secure it back to the panel above and below it with the hinges and screws. As long as you bought the right replacement panel for your door, it will fit in perfectly.

Remove Torsion Bars From The Spring

Now you can carefully remove those torsion bars that are holding the spring in the loose position. Do so very carefully, so that you gradually put tension back on the garage door. You can then remove the vice grips holding the garage door in place as well.

Test The Garage Door

The best way to test the garage door is to take it off from the automatic opener and manually try to open and close it. This is so that you can test the garage door and do not have to worry about the opener forcing the garage door open if something is wrong. If the door operates properly, attach it back to the opener and you are good to go.  

For more information about garage door repair, contact a local company.