Replacing Your Garage Panels Could Be Very Easy

Garage doors can be quite fragile — they have to be. The actual panels need to be lightweight to be so that they can be easily opened and closed by such a relatively small motor. That is, it would be very impractical to have a thick wooden or steel garage panel on a residential property. You would need to have an unreasonably heavy duty, loud, and high voltage motor to open and close your garage doors. 

Replacing Garage Panels

Since garage-door panels are usually made out of cheap and lightweight materials like vinyl or aluminum, they are also very easy to repair and replace. That is, if you have to replace a couple of your broken panels, it is only going to cost a couple hundred dollars. In fact, they might even be possible to handle replacement on your own. Some garage panels have a modular design that enables them to be removed from the frame with small, simple handheld tools. The construction isn't complicated or heavy duty. If you can replace your own modular garage panels, you can save several hundred dollars on labor costs.

Are Your Panels Modular?

The first thing you need to do is determine whether or not your panels are modular. If your panels are welded to the frame, it is not going to be easy to replace them by yourself. That is, you have to replace the entire frame — which is attached to track and chain — to fix a broken panel. Many panels are only attached to the frame with a few bolts. With a handheld wrench, you can remove all these bolts and instantly pop the panel out of the frame. Even though garage panels are long and awkward to handle, they are lightweight, so the work isn't that hard.

The hardest part might be holding the new panel in place without bending or kinking it. It is definitely a two-or-three person job to install the new panels. But, before you get to this point, you also need to figure out if you can find replacement panels that will fit your garage door system. Many garage door manufacturers make a number of panel styles and colors that can fit within the system. So, you not only have a chance to buy replacement panels, but you can also replace your old broken panels with a new style and color.

New panels can instantly change the style of your garage doors for a very minimal investment, and if you don't feel comfortable replacing the panels yourself, then find a professional garage door service near you to help out.

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