I found the angles for $23 at Ace Hardware and used them for the joint you demonstrated as well as the one below it. Two of the four lined up perfectly. I had to widen the far left hole with a drill slightly on two of them to get them to line up perfectly. It didn't take long at all and appears to be working well. Thanks!
Good to hear it worked well for you. I think the trick to screwing them on is not to tighten any of the screws until you have them all in. That might give you enough wiggle room to skip having to widen any holes.
I was told a different method of putting the two bars end to end with a center bar. Making one long support. However, your solution seemed to make much more sense and it provides support above and below the hinge. A fantastic 10 minute fix. One quote I got had three option. $400 or $700 and a top quote of $1,200 which was higher than simply buying a new door. It is not that I am cheep, but if this get a few more years out of the current door, that works well for me and the environment. It worked so well, I would buy you a drink of you choice if you lived near by. Thank you for suggesting this alternative method of bracing the door. One screw did need to be put in at a bit of an angel, but it worked out nicely. By the way, it mad the door run quieter than it has ever run in the past. Before buying a new door or spending a lot of money to have someone come in and do an elaborate fix, try this first. I highly recommend it. If it doesn't work out, take the angel iron back to Home Depot and get your money back! It is definitely worth a try.
Glad you found it helpful. Yeah, I hat to disparage any garage repair folks but you would think they could offer this fix as a more economical option. Sure, charge some labor for those with no skills or tools but please already. I am totally amazed at how many grateful and happy viewers have commented on this simple and effective remedy. The only negative comments have come from what I must assume are garage door repair people. Hey, I appreciate their needed skill and service and will certainly NOT be installing my own door when it does need replacing. But there is often no need to throw away a panel or entire door when it could be shored up for a few more years. Thanks for your praise and stay well.
Oh, I replied too quickly and didn't see that drink offer of yours until after my first reply. That's the best offer I've had here so a double thanks for your nice comments!!
I can't believe this worked! Our garage door sounded like train cars banging together when it went up and down. This solved all the sagging and popping. The door goes up and down smoothly again. Thank you so much for sharing this idea!
Thanks so much for posting this. My garage door was sort of bumping when it opened, and eventually I could not close it (it would go partially down, and would then stop). I bought two of the 8 ft. bars from Home Depot (Model # 800117 Store SKU #206260), just as described in the video. They cost $35 each (bought on 2/17/20), plus tax. They did ship for free since the total was over $45. I realized that there was a crack on 2 adjacent panels of the garage door. The cracks were fairly small, but not tiny (I could see sunlight coming through the door when the lights were off in the garage). This video solution fixed the problem. When you install the bars, take a look at the holes on the bars as 1 side of the bar has three straight oval holes on each end. Use that side because the other angled piece of the bar has one oval hole, then a round circle hole and then another oval hole on the end. The oval holes give you more space to line up with the hole where the screw needs to go into the garage door bracket . For me, one of the bars went on perfectly. For the second bar, the hole on the bar was not quite perfectly lined up with where the screw goes into the garage door bracket, but it was close enough that I could still screw it in at a slight angle and the screw was able to be tightened. One other note: I had pulled the red "emergency lever" while I worked on the garage door. After installing the bars, it was nice to then manually lift the door all the way up and then manually bring it down as that made it clear to me that the bars fixed the problem. Prior to the fix, I had a hard time moving the doors up past a certain point. Then, I reattached the red lever and tested things with the garage door opener.
Thank you so much for your observation of the different hole sizes and fully descriptive comment. I will try to integrate your helpful information into my own commentary. Thanks!
THANK YOU.....THANK YOU.....THANK YOU.....THANK YOU.....THANK YOU.....THANK YOU.....THANK YOU..... I bought 10ft metal bar from Home Depot, cut it into two 5ft using their in-store chainsaw. Since Mine is a two car garage door and it needed a 16ft bar, I use only the 5ft bars and botled them in the middle of the door, using the same screws on the two sides of the crack that was making the popping noise.... Worked perfect. No noise..... once again you saved me a ton of money. We were thinking of replacing the whole garage door $700.. and this costed me only $35.... ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU... YOU DA MAN!!!!
My garage kept caving in after opening the garage. We followed this design and that fixed it! Saved us $1500 from buying a new garage. Thank you so much!
I just used this method to fix my sagging garage door panel with the Lowes 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 8 foot Zinc-Plated Steel Perforated-Slotted Angle and it worked perfect. $29.79 each (20) with military discount. I did have to drill one hole in one end since the holes did not match the hinge holes. Otherwise a one hour job and easy. Thanks for the video.
Thanks! I was looking for the dimensions as there are a couple options some more expensive than others. I have watched 4 videos for the same thing and none of them mentioned the dimension of the angle bar other than being 8' long lol
Lol! I did this exact same thing to fix my broken door and yes I did buy the materials at Home Depot as well. I had a garage guy change the springs recently and he told me the additional weight would cause problems, I told him I''ve had the slotted angle bars on there for 5 years. Shut him up real quick.
I'm sure that most repair folks mean well, but they probably have never tried this or really understand actual weight restrictions. These bars add a small fraction of what the total garage door weight is and the proof of negligible impact is all the reports of tremendous success by everyone who has used this repair technique. Glad to hear that yours was yet another successful fix!
My friend, you may have just saved me a costly repair. Was considering a different way to reinforce, but this looks better and probably easier than what I had planned.
My garage door was sagging for months and I finally tried this method tonight and it was so simple and quick to fix that I wish I would've found this video months ago. You sir, are a genius! Thanks a million!
Thank you! Just fixed my door. Works like a charm. Although, the prices has gone up quite a bit. I paid about $40/each slotted angle. I installed 2 as well just for good measures.
Thank you very much sir! 🍻 I had a couple of small tears in one of my garage door panels. The door had started buckling and popping and it was getting worse to the point we stopped using it. I thought I was looking at a new door. But, I found your video a couple of hours ago, went to Home Depot bought two strips ($13.83 CAD each!) of the slotted angle bracing, came home and got my ratchet out and 10 minutes later the bracing was installed and now my door no longer buckles or pops!!! 👍👍👍😁😁😁
Thanks for the post... fixed my sagging garage door and took only 2 minutes to do (minus the time to drive to home depot to purchase the 8' angle piece, $32).
One thing I learned. If the springs are not balanced it can put too much stress on the door opener and the center of the door. If your panels are buckling check your spring tension. And of course be careful doing this!
You’re right - 10 minutes of effort with $60 of materials fixes the buckling problem very nicely. You probably saved me from replacing my garage door. Thank-you for the useful and very clear video!!
Thanks for that acknowledgement. Yeah, it takes some time and effort to make (and upload) a video for RU-vid, but I figured it was about time that I contributed. So many wonderful people provide heir help this way and I certainly benefit from it weekly. Since I figured out this improvement after watching someone else's video (I credit him at the beginning of my post), I figured others may benefit from it too. Glad to hear it still helps!
I went to ace hardware also in Los Angeles. They are called by different names like mission hardware, garvey hardware. I installed 2 angles but it didn't stop the buckling. My angle iron were only 8' long. Maybe If I installed 2 angle irons 16' wide, it could help. My friend recommended me a contractor. He suggested installing 2 more struts and that would stop the buckling but it would cost $260. This is the solution: get 2 more garage struts that span 16 feet across. The parts are only found in garage parts shops. I had a hard time finding these part shops on google map. They don't sell to retail. I found a shop however lux garage door in commerce, CA. We decided to get a brand new garage door for $1900, comes with lifetime buckling warrantly. I got new door, new springs, rails, trims. This new door come with 3 garage struts that span all across the garage door 16' wide. It will never buckle unless someone hit the door with car.
Thank you for your feedback and info. Sorry your fix attempt didn't do the trick but yeah, although it has helped most people that have left comments here, I assume it won't work for everyone. At some point yes, we will all have to replace the entire door. Now, just make sure that nobody runs into that new garage! :)
Nicely done..only thing I would recommend is you use liquid nails or some.adhesive caulk behind the angle iron... The vibration in the door will eventually loosen those screws up. I.have found that the sheet metal screws that are on the garage door brackets only well the first time they are drilled. Or you could use bolts and nuts with lockwashers. Nice idea nonetheless.
9x7 Clopay door Home Depot 10' x 1/58 x 1" metal stud cut off 6" on each side slot will end up in middle used one of the 6" cut off pieces put it in the middle used existing screws on the hinges works great! Cost $ 5.50 took 20 min can't beat that thank you for your video
Worked PERFECTLY! I used a hacksaw to cut thru two holes to allow the bolt holes to align properly (easier than drilling between two holes, IMHO), I just did one side for now to see how it holds up but I expect to eventually brace the other side as well and then brace the area where the arm connects to the door.
Thank you, this did the trick for me with just one 8ft bar. Middle hole didn't line up for me though so I used my drill to cut one there. My garage door now opens and closes again.
Just fixed mine... added 2 8ft. sections almost identical to what you’re showing. Works like a charm for $70 opposed to the $600 garage door guy just quoted me. By the way, each 8’ section is a bit over 4lbs. each so the added ~9lbs in weight to the door is negligible/ nothing to worry about.
l just moved the top , existing bar down to the panel that was buckling ( later on l'll probably do what you did to the other joints ) THANKS FOR THE IDEA
Thanks for the video. Added two 8 ft. 14 ga. Punch angles to my 16 ft wide door and it resolved the buckling. Menards has them for $22 a piece. Also adjusted the tension with the EZ set system and we are good to go. Menards also has the 16 ft garage door braces, not that expensive but a pain to get them home with our vehicle.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This worked like an absolute charm and most likely saved me $200. On top of that, where I live it is near impossible to get a hold of a garage repairman in a timely fashion. You've made our day!
Yuri Ka, i had the exact same problem and the exact same door. i was dreading having to call a service on it because all they were going to say was i needed a new panel or new door. i followed this exactly and the door runs smooth, thanks so much for posting this. YOU ARE THE MAN !!!!
My son and I just applied this fix. Seems to work well. The angle brackets did not align perfectly but luckily we bought the thinner gauge and it drilled easily.
Glade I found this video. Was thinking the exact same thing and thought to myself I should see if anyone had the same idea. Happy to see it work. Will be doing the same this week. Mine is bowing at the bottom.
Thanks so much. I tried a few things first, no luck. Then called a local garage door place. Then I saw your video. Worked like a charm! Only $60. Thanks again.
Dude, we were having a huge issue, with the opening and closing of our garage door due to a serious bend in the middle. We didn't goto office depot, we went to Lowe's, but they had the exact same bars. It worked like a charm, thanks so much!
Yuri, we have been trying to fix the “popping” in our door and had pretty much given up hope until I stumbled across your video. We found the exact brackets at Home Depot. I was skeptical that they would work, but I am pleased to say I was wrong-the door opens more smoothly now than it had in a long time! We would never attempt to adjust springs or anything like that, but your fix has saved us right now from the expense of buying a new garage door. Thank you for that!!
Great idea. I put four on today and the bad buckling issue stopped. Same angle metal bar from Home Depot. My door was pretty bad after an accident a year ago.
Thanks for making this video - I ended up doing the same thing. Got the steel 90 degree 8-ft angle section from menards for $23 and it fixed my popping and sagging.
Precision Garage Door wanted $300 to put 2 rods on our garage door for added support. We added three 8' rods by ourselves for less than $100 (it took hardly any time - just needed to drill 9 holes). Buckling/popping sound is gone! Thanks.
I just walked too close to the door and got scraped by the sharp edges. I added a small bumper to each corner with a piece of a pool noodle and a zip tie.
Thanks for this video! I had exactly the same problem with my garage door but it had gotten so bad I could no longer close the door without pushing up on the sagging part. Your solution was so simple and effective! It solved my problem which means I can out off replacing the panels or buying a whole new door. Thank you!
thanks for the video. mine was buckling the other day and was already thinking i needed to replace the whole door since it was cracking in the same spot as yours. went out and got one of these slotted angels and it worked perfect. used the same existing bolts also. thanks!
I had the same problem and this is an outstanding and super easy fix. It took longer to go to Lowe's and buy the brace than to install it. Thanks so much!
Thank you. Was considering similar repair including drilling holes in the existing door to fasten the steel angles, but this is amazingly easier and worked great.
This fix was so genius. I had the same problem and was trying to brace inside/behind the verticals brace. This worked out sooo well. Thanks for the video!!
Yup, the ONLY negatives were for my poor video/audio (yeah, it was quick and dirty) and from a couple of garage door repair folks. I acknowledge their concerns and do warn viewers that I'm NOT a Pro and cannot make any assumptions that my fix will work for everyone. Any serious problems of course should be looked at by a Pro :)
I had a similar issue but on the bottom two panels. I applied your fix which was indeed extremely easy, and it worked great! The door run as smooth as new. Thank you very much for your video and recommendations. It saved me big $$$$
Great idea, thanks for making the video. While looking for the slotted rail you used, I found a 16' garage door strut for $18. It worked perfect and spanned the entire door. 10 min job and door is good as new.
Glad to hear you found a similarly easy fix. I did mention in my video description that I first too had found a video fix using the long strut method, I just figured out an alternative that worked easy for me. Glad to hear the struts are that cheap and I guess easy to install as well. Where did you buy the strut?
You can buy those 16' support channels easy enough at Menards for about $17 each, but it costs $100 to have them delivered. I did a similar fix at shown here and it works great.
Thanks for posting. My situation was a little different but i was able to adapt your idea with the same metal support beam and managed to fix the door and pricier a solid place for the anchor to attach. This probably saved me hundreds!
Mine just started buckling on 2 panels, got a crease in the middle somehow. I'm definitely going to try this on both panels, looks like a quick and easy fix! Thanks!
Thanks for making this video, realized it was viable to do this and put together my own structure using angle steel and works like a charm. Hopefully bought some time before I have to replace the garage.
I too have this very same issue, two panels on top are cracked right in the middle. I plan on bending some stainless to fit where the cracks are and riveting/epoxying the fabricated doubler to the door
Worked like a charm, Home Depot and Lowe's didn't have 8 footers but HK Metals, a family business hardware store in Riverside, CA had them in stock for $20 each. Thanks for the tip and good video buddy.
Glad to hear! Seems like many folks have posted similar success stories and their appreciation since I posted this video three years ago. I made this video on the spur of the moment as I thought it could help others and I wanted to contribute to the RU-vid community which I often need to utilize for help and hints myself. In fact, I had watched some other videos first and that got my brain thinking how to tweak their advice to make it even simpler and I am quite pleased with my solution. So, thank you for your nice comments.
good thing one of your readers mention the size and make of the plated bar. I do not have a Menards in the SF Bay area so I have to go to Home Depot, less than 10% cheaper than LOWES.
Great video! You saved me from replacing my whole door. Damned if I could find a 16ft piece of angle steel anywhere locally, I ended up using two 10ft pieces of super strut. A little heavy but I was in a bind. No pun intended. Worked like a charm.
I’m sorry for any confusion but I did say that I was using 8ft bars, not 16ft. I do mention that another video I watched was using the 16ft garage struts as extra reinforcement but you can see in my video that I mention 8ft and am using just that. You should be wary of adding too much weight and rethink keeping your heavy ones. I’ve been told that Menards has the best price on the 8ft bars I used. Good luck.
No confusion, my garage door did not have the evenly spaced supports on either side of the opener spanning 8ft, so I had to run the brace all the way out to the roller hinge, which was 10ft luckily.
I used 16FT 2x4s. I cut each 2x4 in half. You must go all the way across with support beams. My garage door is 18 feet wide. Take one piece and support the left side and the other piece to support the right side. Then you have support the entire length. Cost me $21 for the lumber and $20 for the hardware.
How is it holding up 6 years later? I am curious. Those bars for the smaller ones you said are $31 bucks are now $65!! @ Home Depot. Double the price! It is best to get a 16 foot angle that goes across the whole width of you garage. You want he pressure to extend to the outer part of the garage and not just the middle part of the garage. You also want to make sure you don't get self-tapping screws that go through your garage and poke holes. It will create bigger issues. The cracks will starts to wear down your garage even worse. Get a 16 foot STRUT Kit. This is the technical term. For a two car garage, it is 16 feet. So you can buy kits on-line with free shipping that comes in 3 sections that come together. You want to reinforce the weight distribution to the outside. Not the middle. Or eventually your middle will start doing the same issue in a few years.
Just paid $200 for 1 installed by a garage company..took him 15 for one and he put the one bar below the hinges. If I saw this video I would have done this my self.
Yup, sorry you found it too late as it really was quite simply... and that was my motivation to post it and share. Ah, good luck for any future repair needs.
😄 way to add weight to a door and kill your springs. A cheap repair will cost you so much in the end. Added weight will not only kill your springs but you just shortened the life of your motor. Bravo
This repair was done 5 yrs ago and all is running just fine, thank you. I'll go out on a limb and guess that you may be a garage repair tech as they are the only negative commenters here. All other comments are regularly positive and quite happy with this "repair method". But thank you for your warnings as there are no guarantees with anything we do in life.
Thanks for the video. I actually found the 16" garage door struts for $18 at Menards. I would not have known I could fix this myself if I hadn't found this. Thanks.
I have a wooden garage door, not panel, that has the upper and lower wood support crack buckle and bending every time I use the door. I guess I better buy 2 of the slotted bars for upper and lower wood door casing.
