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Can a hole on garage door be repaired easily ?

Hi everyone,

we hired a plumber to install some drainage and he hired his builder friend to use bobcat to excavate. But his friend damaged our garage door.

We didnt bought any insurance for the renovation project. We have a home insurance (Suncorp). But it probably wont cover it.

The plumber is a good fellow. I think he wasnt aware of the damage caused by his builder friend even he was on the site yesterday too.

We are thinking to ask for price reduction, then buy some fillers to repair the hole ourselves. How much would we spend on this repair?

https://veterangaragedoor.com/faq/can-repair-hole-garage-door/

What do u guys think ? Thank you for any ideas @EricL @MitchellMc

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ivanptr

Can I Repair A Hole In My Garage Door ?

Several times each year we have customers ask if we can repair a hole in a garage door panel. The general answer is no we can not repair a hole in a garage door panel. Most modern garage doors are made of thin steel, 24 and 25 gauge most commonly. We get asked can’t you just weld up the hole. Trying to weld this thin steel would be like trying to weld a soda can, it is much too thin to weld. Depending on the location of the hole, decorative handles and hinges might take care of the problem of the hole, while adding a nice architectural look to your garage door. Generally our answer to fixing the hole in your garage door is to replace the panel or section if it is still available.

If you search the internet, you will find DIY ideas on how to repair the hole. These DIY steps use different types of fillers for the hole:

Put a lag bolt with a round or flat head through the hole and a washer and nut on the inside. You can then paint the head of the lag bolt to match the door and basically cover the hole.

Use automotive body filler to fill the hole then sand smooth and paint to match.

Spray foam to the inside, then sand the outside and paint to match. (this does not sound like a good idea as spray foam is not easy to work with and would likely come out when sanding or just flat fall out because of expansion issues.)

Other posts recommend a pop rivet through the hole.

MitchellMc

Hi @ivanptr,

I think the best course of action would be to inform the person you have signed the contract with and request that they repair the damage. Tradespersons pay to be covered by insurance for damage just like this that they cause whilst on a job. You shouldn't be expected to repair the hole yourself. I'd suggest that it would make more sense to get a quote from a garage door installation company for the cost of replacing and installing the new panel and provide it to your plumber. If the panel itself can't be replaced and the whole door needs to, that could run in the thousands.

You could likely perform a reasonable repair to the section of the damaged door with filler. However, it's not going to be an unnoticeable repair. The cost of the products could be in the realm of 100-150 dollars.

Mitchell

RSS

If I couldn't get the panel replaced, I would consider using a piece of metal to patch the hole and then use some body filler, if you wished, to smooth the edges out. I wouldn't imagine body filler would work by its self.

EricL

Hi @RSS

Let me tag @ivanptr to make sure they see your suggestion. I don't think body filler would work by itself either, the constant movement and vibration would easily crack the body filler.

Eric

ivanptr

@EricL @MitchellMc

Thank you for your advice🫂

We talked to the builder and he was willing to take responsibility.

So we dont need to bother to repair the door ourselves.

MitchellMc

That's a fair and reasonable outcome, @ivanptr. I'm glad you got it sorted.

Mitchell

MikeTNZ

Hi @ivanptr,

That is not your cost, that is a warranty claim on the contractor that caused this damage.

As an Electrician, I have to have Public Liability Insurance, in case things go wrong and I cause damage to a customers premises.

I haven't read the whole thing here but, this is down to the person/company that caused this damage.

For someone to merely walk away from this and expect YOU to fix this, is extremely poor in the least.

The person that caused this damage should be fixing it.

If it were me, I'd be asking for a new door, because the old one was not like that before.

Cheers,

Mike T.

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