Dented or creased garage door panel?

A garage door section is a thin steel skin stretched over a rigid frame. A shallow, round dent is stretched metal. It can look bad but usually does not change how the door works. A crease is different: the steel has been folded, the strength of the section runs through that fold, and folded steel gives way sooner on the next hit or the next wind load.

Where the dent sits matters more than the size. A dent across the middle of a section near a door stile is mostly cosmetic. A dent over a hinge, or a crease that runs across the full width of a section, changes how the panel holds its shape. Foam-filled doors also hide trouble, because the foam can separate from the skin where the steel was pushed in.

Pulling dents out is often possible for body shops on cars, but garage door steel is thin, pre-painted and baked-on. Pulling a dent can crack the paint or stretch the panel, and a repair can show more than the dent did. The finish on the section will also seldom match exactly if only one new section is installed, particularly on a door that has faded over the years.

Many dented panels are fine to leave. A crease, a split or a dent that affects a hinge is a good reason to replace the section. A single section only works if a matching panel is available for your door, which gets harder on older or discontinued designs.

Where several sections are damaged, a mismatched color is a worry, or a full door replacement is the more sensible route than a patchwork repair, we will say so. You decide.