Garage door hail damage in North Texas: what to do first

By Heather Window & Door · 11 September 2026

Why some doors dent and others do not

Construction is the whole difference. A single layer steel door is one thin skin with nothing behind it. It is the cheapest door on the shelf, it is what a lot of North Texas housing from the 1970s and 1980s still has, and hail that a modern door would shrug off will dimple it across the whole face.

A double or triple layer insulated door has polystyrene or polyurethane bonded behind the steel skin. The insulation supports the panel from behind, which raises its impact resistance substantially. It is not hail proof, and the difference in a real storm is still obvious.

Gauge matters too. Steel is measured in gauge and lower numbers are thicker. A 24 gauge door holds up considerably better than a 28 gauge one, and builder installed doors tend toward the thinner end.

What to do in the first hour

Document it while the evidence is fresh. Insurers ask for all of this, and it is far easier to gather now than to reconstruct in three weeks.

• The whole door, straight on From about fifteen feet back, in even light, so the overall pattern of damage reads.
• Each damaged section, close up With something in frame for scale.
• The edges and around any windows Top and bottom, where damage is easiest to miss.
• The date of the storm Written down, not remembered.

Take more photographs than you think you need.

Check whether it still runs correctly

Cosmetic damage is one thing. A door knocked out of alignment is another, and the second is a safety issue.

Only with the door fully closed and the springs intact: disconnect the opener at the emergency release, lift the door by hand and watch it. It should move smoothly, without binding, catching or scraping at any point, and it should hold position when you let go at waist height. Look along the track for any bend, and watch whether the rollers travel cleanly through the curve.

If the door binds, if it feels heavier on one side, or if anything has visibly moved, stop using it and call. That is track work, and forcing it makes it worse.

One section, or the whole door

This is the question that decides the size of the job, and two things determine the answer.

• Is the section still made? Manufacturers change panel designs regularly. A door more than about fifteen years old often has no matching section still in production, and a close-but-not-quite match looks worse than the damage did. We identify the manufacturer and model, usually from a label inside one of the sections, and check availability before quoting anything.
• Are the neighboring sections actually undamaged? Hail does not tidily hit one panel. Look at the sections above and below the obvious damage from an angle, in low light, with the sun raking across the surface. Dimpling that is invisible head on shows up clearly that way. Replacing one section between four dimpled ones buys you half a repair.

Where a swap does work, panel replacement is a real saving against a full new door, and worth pursuing where the door supports it. We give you both numbers in writing before you decide, rather than one.

One honest caveat: an exact color match on a door that has faced ten Texas summers is rarely possible. A new section will be slightly brighter than the weathered ones around it. We show people the difference before they commit rather than after.

About the insurance claim

We are not adjusters and this is not insurance advice, but a few things come up constantly.

Garage doors are usually covered under the dwelling portion of a homeowners policy rather than as a separate item, which means the claim is subject to your deductible. If the damage is a single dented section and your deductible is $2,500, a claim may not be worth filing.

Where it usually is worth filing is when the garage door is part of a wider storm claim that already includes the roof, siding, gutters or windows. In that situation the door is one line item on a claim you are making anyway.

Adjusters want a written estimate, and they want it itemized. A lump sum figure is the thing most likely to get questioned, so ask for the breakdown whoever you use.

If it is being replaced anyway

Hail is not a one time event in this part of Texas. Allen, McKinney, Frisco and the Collin County corridor generally see it often enough that specifying a heavier gauge insulated door is worth asking about, because that construction resists dents better.

The same upgrade brings the other benefits: a more temperate garage through a North Texas summer, quieter operation, and better resistance to the everyday dents from bikes, trash cans and cars backing out.

And a reminder that applies to every door replacement: the new door needs new springs sized to its weight. An insulated door weighs more than the single layer door it replaces. Any quote that reuses the existing spring system is setting up an early failure.

Sources

1. DASMA — Technical Data Sheets (Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association)

All sources read 8 September 2026. Linked so you can check them rather than take our word for it.

Written from DASMA’s technical data. The insurance section is general information, not advice.

Describe it however makes sense to you

Read enough? Tell us about the door.

However you describe it is enough — no part names needed. The visit and the written estimate cost you nothing, and nothing starts until you approve the number.

• However you describe it is enough. No part names needed.
• The written estimate is free. Nothing owed if you pass.
• Nobody starts the repair until you approve the number.