What to Do If You Have a Bent Garage Door Track

Whether your garage door is automatic or manual, it rolls up and down on tracks. Unfortunately, all kinds of issues can bend your tracks. If a vehicle, a heavy ball, or a variety of all items hit the garage door, the track may end up bending. To deal with that issue, check out these tips.

1. Don't Use the Garage Door

As soon as you notice the bent tracks, stop using your garage door. If you run the garage door up and down over the bent track, you risk damaging the door or potentially even getting hurt. A bent track can unbalance the load of your garage door, potentially causing the door to come loose from the tracks and fall on you or other people nearby. 

2. Remove The Bent Track

Ideally, you need to open your garage door to deal with this issue, but as explained above, using your garage door when you have a bent track can be dangerous. Be very careful and open the door as slowly as possible to prevent damage. 

Once the door is open, start to remove the bent track. The track should be secured to your garage wall by a set of brackets. Do not remove those brackets. Simply remove the nuts and bolts holding the track in place, and take the bent portion of the track down. 

3. Straighten the Track

To straighten the track, place the metal on a level surface such as a wooden workbench. Then, use the claw end of a hammer to gently pry the track back to a straight position. Once you get the largest bends out of the track, use a rubber mallet to gently hammer the rest of the track into place. 

Run a level up and down the track to make sure that it is as straight as possible. If you see additional bends, try to straighten them as explained. 

4. Reattach the Track to the Wall

Now that the track is straight, you can reattach it to the wall. Typically, you should be able to use the same hardware that you removed when you were taking down the track, but if you have stripped screws or other damage, you may need to invest in new hardware. 

5. Contact a Professional

Garage doors are a lot more complicated than they appear. They also have a lot of safety issues and risks. To protect both yourself and your garage door, you may want to leave this repair issue to the pros. Also, keep in mind that if you get started with a DIY repair and then change your mind, you can always call in a professional at that point.