So You Drove Into Your Garage Door, Now What?

If you accidentally drive into your garage door, you must know precisely what to do. Our local garage door experts provide detailed step-by-step instructions and tips to help you navigate this process successfully, ensuring your Long Island property is back in working order as soon as possible.

What to Do if You Drove Into Your Garage Door on Long Island

If you’ve driven into your garage door, there’s a reliable sequence of steps you can follow to minimize damage and ensure optimal results.

1. Stop the Car Completely

If you hit a garage door, immediately stop the car and engage the parking brake. While it may seem obvious to do so, it can be difficult to think clearly in the midst of an accident. Stopping the car prevents you from accidentally rolling or accelerating into the door, exacerbating the damage. 

2. Check on Your Passengers

If you had anyone in the car with you, take a moment to check everyone for injuries or signs of shock. Call for medical assistance if necessary, though it’s unlikely unless you hit the garage door with some force, rather than a simple rollback or short acceleration.

3. Don’t Open the Door

Avoid operating the door after any kind of collision. You may want to disconnect the door opener from the power source as well to avoid accidental operation. At this point, opening the garage door may do more harm than good, since you may unintentionally exaggerate existing damage. You might further bend the frames and tracks, dislodge the door from the frame or damage door panels.

4. Evaluate the Extent of the Damage

Before you can make an informed decision about your next steps, you need to understand what you’re dealing with. This step is essential for both insurance purposes and for communicating with a repair specialist. Before doing anything else, study the door to determine which parts are damaged, and take pictures if possible. 

For effective communication, you’ll need to know what the door is made of, as well as the extent and location of the damage. Remember to inspect the door panels, frame and components for damage of any kind. A Long Island technician can also provide a swift and accurate assessment. 

If you plan on submitting an insurance claim, it’s essential that you document the damage to both the garage door and your car. Use photos and videos, and get a detailed repair estimate from your door specialist for submission to your insurer.

5. Contact Your Local Repair Specialist

Now that you understand the damage, you’re ready to contact a repair technician and get an estimate. Contact a local repair specialist, like A Better Door Co., Inc, and explain the extent of the damage. They should be able to give you a provisional estimate before arranging to come and view the damaged door in person. 

After evaluating the damage, the repair technician will provide a list of potential solutions for your particular case. These may range from minor repairs to full replacements. They’ll explain the advantages and disadvantages of each, allowing you to make an informed decision about your preferred option. 

Common Damage Types When You Hit a Garage Door

Generally, if you hit your garage door with a vehicle, it results in one of a few kinds of damage. Whether you’ve backed into the door or rolled too far forward, you’re likely to see issues like:

• Bent or bowed tracks and rollers: When a car hits a garage door with enough force, especially when the garage door is solid, it can easily push the rollers out of the track, or even bend and warp the track or roller. In many cases, track repair or roller repair can solve the problem. 
• Snapped springs or broken cables: Even a surprisingly mild bump can sometimes force a spring or cable beyond its ability to stretch, causing it to break or bend and become unusable. In these cases, spring replacement or cable replacement is best, as they are generally impossible to repair.
• A misaligned, sagging or hanging door: By accidentally warping or damaging the door, frame, cables or tracks, you can force the door out of position. In these cases, the door can become a safety hazard since it’s likely to collapse or fall out of the frame at some point. Most often, a garage door replacement is the best solution.
• Dented or cracked door frames: Has your vehicle hit your garage door really hard? It’s entirely possible that the door forced the frame out of position, bending or cracking it. In these cases, the frame may require either repair or replacement, depending on the damage severity. 
• Broken door panels: If you have a door that consists of many panels, you can easily break or bend one of these panels when you hit it with your car. Depending on the severity of the damage, door panel repair may be sufficient to restore your door to working order.

Do Insurers Cover Garage Door Damage From Your Car?

One of the first things many people ask when they hit their garage door with a car is whether or not their insurance policy covers this kind of damage. Many insurance policies will cover accidental damage of this kind. However, it’s worth discussing the matter with your policy provider before submitting a claim. In some cases, paying for repairs out of pocket makes better financial sense in the long term if the premium increase after a claim is prohibitive. 

Depending on the details of your auto insurance policy, you may also be able to lodge a claim for any damage to your car.

Can You Repair a Dented Garage Door?

It may be possible to repair a dented garage door, depending on the extent of the damage. In some cases, it makes more sense to replace the garage door or garage door panel to ensure the door remains stable and safe to use.

Contact a Garage Door Specialist Near Long Island

Once you’ve determined that everyone in the car is safe and unharmed, evaluated the extent of the damage and informed your insurance company, you’re ready to discuss repairs. Contacting a reliable garage door specialist near you offers significant benefits. Family-owned for over 30 years, with an A+ BBB rating, A Better Door Co., Inc serves Long Island and the surrounding areas with free over-the-phone estimates. 

Contact us at 631-732-9654 for a reliable evaluation of the damage and trustworthy repair recommendations. Our emergency repair services can help, whether you’ve backed into a garage door or your garage door opener suddenly fails.