Metal garage doors, particularly those with multiple horizontal panels, only work when all of the panels are flat and functioning. A single big dent in one garage door panel creates so many problems. Here is why these dents in a metal garage door need to be repaired right away.

Dents Prevent the Panels from Unfolding

Garage doors unfold like a fan, both up and down. The panels have to be flat so that they can fold, and so that they can move up and down. A dent of noticeable size prevents the panel from moving, and the dent prevents the door from unfolding up or down. Fixing the dent resolves these issues. 

Dents Cause the Rollers to Jam in the Tracks

If you look carefully at your garage door, you will notice that there are casters, or rollers, on the sides of the door. The rollers are in tracks, and the rollers aid the door in rolling up smoothly and easily. When you put a dent in a panel of the door, it bends that panel in such a way that the attached rollers are not inline in the tracks with the other rollers. Then the rollers on the dented panel cause the whole door to jam. The rollers above can move freely, but the rollers below the bent and dented panel are trying really hard to push against the jammed rollers of the dented panel. There is a lot of jerking up and down with very little movement because of the damage to the door. Fixing the dent puts that panel's rollers straight and back on track so that the entire door can roll smoothly again. 

Dents Covering Two Panels Seal the Panels Together

You have separate panels that roll freely apart from each other. When you dent the top of one panel and the bottom of the panel above it, the two panels almost become fused. They are stuck together because of the dent. Separating the panels and flattening them out again is highly unlikely. You will either need to replace both panels on the door with new panels or replace the garage door entirely. Your garage door repair technician will tell you what your options are based on the extent of the damage and the size of the dent in the garage door. If the damage extends over more than three panels of the door, you have no choice but to replace the door.