beautify your old garage door

Replacing a garage door panel is a job that you may think quickly about calling in a garage door repair person for, however, this job is much easier than you may anticipate and is something that you can do yourself. If possible, you may want to have a friend help you, as there is some heavy lifting required to complete the job. You'll be surprised how quick the job is to complete and you'll save yourself some money in the process.  Here are the basic steps in starting and finishing the project.    

Tools and materials

To make this job go smoothly you'll only need a few tools and materials. To being, a new garage door panel, and if you're replacing the bottom panel then you'll need some weather stripping to attach to the bottom of the panel. Also, you'll want to have an electric screwdriver and two vice grips, otherwise known as locking pliers to secure the garage door in place while you work. All of these tools and materials can easily be found at your local hardware store.

Remove the damaged panel

The first step in this job is to lower the garage door to its closed position and disconnect the door from any automatic openers. Once the door is stationary, then attach your vice grips to the garage door track, just below the roller on the panel above the one that needs replacing. Be sure to install one set of vice grips on each side of the door. This will allow you to remove the damaged panel while making sure any above panels don't fall.

Removing the panel is very easy. Just use your electric screwdriver to disconnect the panel from all of the hinges that keep it in place and remove the panel, setting it aside. Once the damaged panel is set aside, you'll see that the panels above are suspended in air and your door will have a large gap in it from the missing panel.

Install the new panel

To install the new panel, have a friend help you position the panel in place. When the panel is in place you can use your electric screwdriver to secure the existing hinges to the new panel. Once all of the hinges are secured you can remove the vice grips. Before reconnecting your door to an automatic opener, test it manually by lifting and closing the door. If everything is in place then you can reconnect the door and use like normal.