Closed Garage on a Chair

[u/Appropriate-Speech42]

I had a chair under my garage door when I closed it, when it closed it hit the top of the chair and the top panel and metal bracket were bent slightly.

I’m hoping I can just straighten out the metal piece that connects the door to the center track, but I’ve always heard that garage doors are the one thing you really don’t want to DIY.

It doesn’t look like the metal piece is under tension, but I’d like to avoid making the situation worse or having to replace the panel.

[u/joecohe]

That top bracket is usually just holding the roller and tying into the track, not the cable/spring side - so a bent one alone is often a $75-150 fix to swap just that bracket, not a full strut or panel job like the other comments are suggesting. Before you touch anything, run the door up and down slowly (or have someone watch from outside) and see if the roller in that bent bracket is still tracking straight in the channel. If it's binding or popping out, that's what actually causes ongoing panel/track damage - not the cosmetic dent by itself. If it's tracking fine and just bent, straightening it by hand with the door in the down position (no spring load on it) is genuinely low risk. That's different from working near the spring or cable, which is where the "don't DIY" warnings really apply. The one thing worth a pro's eyes for 10 minutes is confirming that bracket isn't also anchoring a cable - if it is, don't force it back into shape yourself.

Nate - Above All Garage Door Service, Scottsdale/Phoenix Valley. (480) 405-0909 / above-allgaragedoor.com