Symptom check
A section of the garage door is creased, bowed or folded
A bent top section is usually the opener's doing, pulling on a door that was stuck, locked or never reinforced, while a creased bottom section points to a bumper or a kick. Stop running the opener until the bend has been looked at.
Updated
Stop running the opener on a folded section
Do not run the door again from a remote or the wall button while a section is folded or creased across its width. Each trip flexes the bend at a hinge line, and a crease can catch a roller, tear a hinge or let the door twist in its tracks. Unplug the opener, leave the door in place if it sits unevenly, and photograph the bend from inside and out.
What usually causes it, in order
Where the bend sits on the door, and which way it folds, usually names what put it there.
- Most common
The opener pulled on a door that would not move
What you notice: The top section is bowed or folded right at the opener arm bracket, often after an icy morning, a slide lock left in the track or a door that bound partway.
The repair: Replace the folded top section, free whatever held the door, and set the opener force again before it runs. Garage Door Panel Replacement, from $445
- Common
No reinforcement behind the opener bracket
What you notice: The bracket is bolted to bare, thin steel with no strut or brace behind it, and the bow grew slowly over months rather than all at once.
The repair: Fit the door maker's opener reinforcement or a strut across the top section, replacing the section if the steel has creased. Garage Door Panel Replacement, from $445
- Common
A car, mower or kick at the bottom
What you notice: The bottom section is pushed in or creased at about bumper height, and the seal or a roller near that spot sits out of place.
The repair: Replace the bottom section with a new seal and retainer, and check the track and corner hardware the impact reached. Garage Door Panel Replacement, from $445
- Less common
Opener force set high or the arm at a poor angle
What you notice: The door bows in the middle as it starts to move, the curved arm sits steep against the door, or someone raised the force to get a heavy door going.
The repair: Reset force and travel, move the door bracket and arm to the maker's position, and balance the springs so the opener no longer shoves. Garage Door Opener Repair, from $155
- Less common
A roller or track that binds mid-travel
What you notice: A bow shows only while the door is moving, at the same point each time, where a roller drags or the track pinches the sections.
The repair: Replace the binding rollers and straighten the track, so the sections stop carrying the load. Garage Door Roller and Hinge Replacement, from $195
- Less common
Wind on a wide door
What you notice: A crease runs across a middle section of a door 16 feet wide or more after a windstorm, with no impact mark on the outside.
The repair: Replace the creased section and add the struts the door maker specifies for that width. Garage Door Panel Replacement, from $445
Safe checks before you call
Look from inside and out without moving the door, and stay clear of the bottom corners while you do.
- Find where the bend sits: at the opener bracket on the top section, across the bottom section, or partway up.
- See whether the crease crosses a hinge line or the joint between two sections, which matters more than how deep it looks.
- Look at the rollers beside the bend for one twisted out of its track or riding hard against the lip.
- Check behind the top section for a strut or a brace under the opener bracket, and note it if there is none.
- Look along the side tracks for a slide lock pushed through a hole, or ice along the bottom seal, that the opener may have pulled against.
- Photograph the bend from inside and from the driveway, plus the maker's label on the door if you can see it.
Why the top section is the one that folds
The top section folds because the opener pulls the whole door through a single bracket bolted to it, so any resistance concentrates there.
When the bottom is pinned by ice, a slide lock or a binding roller, the opener keeps pulling until its force limit trips, and thin steel gives first. The LiftMaster opener manual says lightweight steel doors need bracing before the opener is attached and points owners to the door maker's kit. DASMA defines a strut as a stiffener that keeps sections from deflecting.
Turning up the force to push through a sticky door makes it worse. Chamberlain's instructions rule out using force as a cure for binding, and a higher setting simply bends more steel before the opener quits.
A crease, a bow and a wave are different problems
A crease is a sharp fold where the steel has stretched, a bow is a gentle curve across the section, and a wave is surface rippling that leaves the section straight.
DASMA calls that last one oil-canning, a slight buckling of the sheet that looks wavy and rarely affects how the door runs. A gentle bow in a top section can sometimes be stiffened with a strut and left. A fold that crosses a hinge line, or one that kinks the end stile, keeps flexing on every trip and is replaced.
One new section, or a new door
One damaged section on a door whose maker still builds it is a section replacement; several bent sections, or a model no longer made, usually tips the job toward a new door.
Clopay suggests a whole new door can make more sense once a door passes about 15 years and its panels are gone, and Amarr leans the same way once three or more sections are seriously damaged. About a fifth of Clark County homes went up in the 1990s, which puts plenty of original doors past that age. Our guides on discontinued panels and on repair or replace go further.
Whichever way it goes, the springs are unwound before any section is unbolted, because the bottom brackets carry their pull. A heavier insulated section or a new strut changes the weight, so the springs are rebalanced before the door runs.
Panel bent or buckled: questions and answers
Why did the top section of my garage door bend where the opener arm attaches?
The opener pulled harder than the steel could take, usually against a door held by ice, a slide lock or a binding roller. All of that pull runs through the one bracket on the top section. Thin steel without a strut or reinforcement plate behind the bracket folds first, which is why the bend sits right at the arm.
Can a strut pull a bowed garage door section back into shape?
It can stiffen a section with a slight bow and keep it from getting worse, but it will not undo a crease. Once the steel has folded sharply, it has stretched along that line and will keep flexing there. A gentle bow may get a strut; a sharp fold, above all one through a hinge line, gets a new section.
Does a replacement top section need a strut under the opener bracket?
On a lightweight steel door, yes, or the door maker's opener reinforcement in its place. LiftMaster's installation steps brace those doors first. The strut adds a little weight, so the springs are checked and rebalanced afterward. Skipping it invites the new section to bow at the same spot.
Why does my garage door bow in the middle only while it is closing?
Something is resisting the door partway down, so the opener pushes the sections into a curve. A roller dragging in a pinched or bent track, a force setting turned up, or springs that no longer balance the door are the usual causes. Watch where the bow starts; that height usually marks the binding roller or track joint.
What can a buckled section break if the opener keeps running the door?
The hinges along the crease, the rollers beside it and eventually the track. A fold flexes at every trip, so hinge screws tear out of the steel, a roller can be levered out of its track, and the door can twist and jam partway. Unplug the opener until the section is replaced or reinforced.
Where to go next
Nearby service areas
This call comes in from Carter Park, Evergreen Highlands and Father Blanchet Park, Hearthwood and Airport Green and the rest of our Washington service area.
Want a price before anyone drives over?
Call and describe what the door is doing, or text a photo of the door and the spring above it. You hear the likely repair and where its price starts, then decide.