Garage Door Panel Replacement Cost
One panel runs $250 to $900 installed. A full door starts around $750. The real question is whether your section can still be matched — and after about a decade, often it can't.
Most homeowners pay
For a single garage door panel replaced at standard business-hour rates in 2026, before the $50–$100 service call fee.
Panel Replacement vs. Full Door
| Item | Low | High | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single panel replacement (installed) | $250 | $900 | varies by material |
| Steel panel (part only) | $100 | $400 | |
| Insulated panel (part only) | $150 | $500 | |
| Wood panel (part only) | $200 | $800 | |
| Bottom panel replacement | $350 | $900 | brackets and seal add labor |
| New door: single steel, non-insulated | $750 | $1,500 | |
| New door: single steel, insulated | $1,000 | $2,000 | |
| New door: double steel, non-insulated | $1,000 | $2,500 | |
| New door: double steel, insulated | $1,500 | $3,500 | |
| New door: wood | $2,000 | $5,000 | |
| Old door disposal | $50 | $150 | |
| Service / trip fee | $50 | $100 |
2026 national averages, matching the data behind our [garage door cost calculator](/garage-door/calculator). Panel labor runs 1–3 hours. Full door installation includes new track, rollers and hardware.
Can Your Panel Actually Be Matched?
Ask this before you ask about price, because the answer decides everything else.
What you need to find
The manufacturer and model. There's usually a label on the inside of an end stile — the vertical edge of a section — or on the top section near the centre. Common names: Clopay, Wayne Dalton, Amarr, Overhead Door, Raynor, Chamberlain, Haas.
The approximate age. Check for an installer's sticker on the door or the track, or your home purchase inspection report.
Photos. Shoot the damaged section straight on, the full door from outside, and any label you find. A garage door company can often identify a profile from a photo in seconds.
The reality
Section profiles — the stamped pattern, the rib spacing, the panel design — change regularly. Manufacturers discontinue lines, redesign ranges, and get acquired.
Doors older than roughly ten to fifteen years frequently can't be matched exactly. And even when the profile is still made, there's a second problem: paint. A twelve-year-old door has faded from UV exposure. A brand-new section in the same nominal colour will not match, and it will be obvious from the street on a light-coloured door.
Your options when it can't be matched
- A close-enough section. Cheapest, and visible. Fine on a door facing away from the street or on a detached garage. Poor on a front-facing door on a house you plan to sell.
- Replace the section and repaint the whole door. Adds $200–$600 in labor and materials but produces a uniform result. Only viable on paintable materials.
- Replace the door. Sometimes the honest answer, particularly if the door is already near the end of its service life.
The question to ask
Give the shop this, verbatim:
"Can you source this section for this model, and will the profile and the colour actually match?"
A company that answers precisely — naming the profile, confirming availability, and being honest about colour — is worth using. One that says "we'll find something" is telling you it won't match.
One Panel, Several Panels, or the Whole Door
One damaged panel on a door under 10 years old. Replace the panel. The math isn't close — $250 to $900 against $750 to $3,500, on a door with most of its life ahead.
Two or more damaged panels. The arithmetic tips fast. Two sections at $400 each is $800 in panels alone, and at that point a new single steel door at $750 to $1,500 buys you new track, new rollers, new hinges, correctly sized springs and a warranty on all of it. Anything above two sections is almost always a new door.
The bottom panel specifically. More involved than a middle section, because the cable brackets anchor to it and the bottom weather seal mounts to it. Replacing it means dealing with cable tension, which puts it in a different labor bracket — expect the top of the $250 to $900 range, and expect the technician to inspect the cables while they're there. That's a legitimate inspection, not an upsell.
A door that was hit hard enough to damage a panel. Have the track and rollers checked too. Impact forces travel through the door into the guides, and a bent track that goes unnoticed will destroy new rollers and eventually pull the door off track. It's worth ten minutes of the technician's time.
A door near the end of its material life. Steel and aluminium last around 20 years, composite up to 25, wood around 15 with real maintenance. Putting a $600 section into a nineteen-year-old steel door is money you'll spend again soon.
Run the numbers for your specific door with the repair vs. replace calculator.
Dents You Don't Actually Need to Fix
This section works against our own interest, and it's here because it's true.
A shallow dent in a steel skin is cosmetic. If the section still runs cleanly through the track, the door balances, and nothing binds, that dent is not a repair — it's a blemish. Plenty of homeowners are quoted a section replacement for damage that has no functional consequence whatsoever.
When cosmetic repair is worth trying
For shallow dents in non-insulated steel, the traditional methods sometimes work: a plunger for a broad shallow dent, or careful heat-and-cool treatment. Results vary considerably and neither is reliable on modern thin-gauge steel with a stamped pattern. It costs an hour to try, and it's free.
For insulated doors these methods don't work — the foam core backs the skin and there's nothing to pull against.
When the section genuinely needs replacing
- The steel is creased or torn. A crease is a permanent structural fold; it won't come out and it weakens the section.
- The dent binds the door. If any part of the section catches the track or rubs on the way past, it's a functional problem now and a track problem later.
- The section is bowing. A section deformed enough to bow has lost rigidity and will get worse.
- Water is getting in. On an insulated door, a punctured skin lets moisture into the foam core and the section degrades from inside.
- You're selling. Kerb appeal is real, and a dented garage door is one of the first things a buyer sees.
If none of those apply and you can live with it, you can genuinely live with it.
The Insurance Angle
Most people never file, and on a single panel that's often right. But the arithmetic is worth doing rather than assuming.
Car into your own garage door. Typically a homeowners claim — the door is part of the structure — though some carriers route it through auto coverage depending on the policy. Against a $250 to $900 panel repair and a typical $500 to $1,000 deductible, filing usually isn't worth it. Against a $2,500 double-door replacement, it frequently is.
Someone else drove into it. Their auto liability should cover it. Get their insurance details, photograph everything, and file against their policy rather than your own — no deductible, no claims history impact for you.
Storm, wind or impact damage. Usually covered under homeowners. Wind damage to garage doors is common in high-wind regions, and some policies have specific provisions.
Normal wear and tear. Not covered, ever. That's springs, cables, rollers, openers and age — the majority of what's on this site.
Before anything is touched
Photograph the damage — wide shots showing the whole door and the surroundings, then close-ups. Photograph any vehicle involved and its position. If you clear the damage first and file later, you have nothing to substantiate the claim.
Also worth knowing: filing a small claim can affect your premium at renewal in ways that outlast the payout. On a $600 panel with a $500 deductible, you're claiming $100 and potentially paying more than that in future premiums. Do the sum before you call.