Hail Damage Repair: Can You Really Do It Yourself?

A lot of people think that you can just take care of hail damage by yourself with no knowledge, tools, or experience. The internet is fraught with videos lauding the virtue of all kinds of home remedies, including hair dryers and dry ice. It should come as no surprise that so many people want to find the easy way out when it comes to hail damage dent repair. After all, even little dents in your new car can be detrimental for its value.

Sadly, the truth is they simply do not work. The men and women at CARSTAR Arnold have broken these DIY methods down one by one for you. CARSTAR Arnold would like the folks in Arnold, Oakville, Imperial, Festus, and St. Louis, MO to understand that there is not always an easy DIY solution for hail damage.

Sun Exposure

Some sources will tell you just parking your vehicle in sunny areas will cause the heat of the sun to remove the dents. Common sense most likely tells you that this will not solve your hail damage problem, and it won’t. Nevertheless, wikihow claims that one week of parking in warm sunlight will solve 90% of hail damage. Of course if this were the case there would be much less call for dry ice, hair dryers, and of course, professional dent repair.

Hair Dryers

This brings us to the hair dryer method. The idea is to apply additional heat the simple sun exposure cannot provide. Understand that as you apply heat you must watch to ensure you don't damage your car’s paint any further; if you see any discoloration, stop right away.

Dry Ice

You will read that dry ice can bang out the small yet significant dents caused by hail. Most sources will tell you to warm the area first with a hair dryer and then cool it quickly with the dry ice. It's this quick temperature change and the succeeding constriction of the metal which allegedly “bangs” the dent out of the metal. However, if you get this result at all, it won't be complete; you'll almost certainly be left with partial hail damage.

Dent Repair Kit

Now, presumably for the remaining damage which has not succumbed to the sun, your hair dryer, or solid carbon dioxide, you can take your chances with a dent repair kit. These include a tool for bumping in metal and a glue gun; sadly they can't impart any professional skill or expertise to whoever might be wielding them. Therefore you should use these with caution and do not try them with any larger dents or damage. It's also wise to realize that whenever you use a dent repair kit yourself you risk making the problem worse.

Leave It To The Pros

So, if nothing else really works and you’re stuck, must you go to an auto body shop? Maybe; in the end it is your call, but at least you know the damage will be fixed properly if you go to a professional. Will it cost you an arm and a leg? Not necessarily. A lot depends on the methods used. So how do auto body shops repair dents in the St. Louis, Missouri area then? There are numerous methods.

Remove and Replace

If the damage is serious and the parts which have been damaged are bolted on and can be easily removed, the remove and replace method might be the simplest way to go. In this case the parts in question are simply replaced.

Paintless Dent Repair

Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) is often used to fix hail damage. In this process the technician goes behind the dent with tools to massage out the dent leaving the paint surface intact. This technique demands a lot of practice and specified tools, so it is really not recommended for the do-it-yourselfer. It's especially effective for parts not easily replaced, such as roofs and quarter panels. Of all the professional techniques, it is the most cost effective. Actually, in locales where damaging hail is a frequent occurrence, it is the repair method most popular with insurance companies.

Finish Glazing

This strategy is good for little hail damage and is an alternative to PDR. Some people try this at home, outside the professional auto body shop; make sure you know what you are doing before you do.

The main advantage of this method is that you do not have to sand the paint all the way down to the metal; instead, you just sand it coarsely so that the glaze putty adheres properly. A related benefit is that the protective anti-corrosion coat from the factory is not removed during the repair because the paint is not sanded all the way down to the metal. Though of course this method is utilized to make repairs, other than the hail damage at issue your paint surface should be in good shape for this technique to work well.

Here’s how this process works. First, whoever is fixing the damage will have to clean the damaged areas well to locate all of the hail damage. The next task is to sand the damaged areas, generally using one hundred eighty grit paper on a dual-action sander. This step makes certain that the glaze adheres well to the car’s surface. After the sanding, it is best to use compressed air to blow all debris from the repair areas. Next, the surface should be cleaned again, this time with degreaser and wax. At this point it is time to apply a slim coat of the finish glaze to fix the small points of damage. Next comes another sanding session, with 150 or 180 grit paper on the dual-action sander. Lastly, the repair is done, and it is time to prime, block, and paint the freshly-repaired areas. Clearly, this is not a simple fix, but it looks good.

Traditional Repair with Body Filler

This technique is very very similar to the finish glazing technique with just a couple of exceptions. The primary difference is that you do need to remove the paint to the metal, and that your grind should be really coarse. Clearly anti-corrosion coating is an issue under these conditions. Very big dents cannot be repaired this way.

Traditional Heat Repair

For automobiles with larger dents and older cars made of thicker metal this is the method your auto body shop will have to go with. This technique utilizes heat, usually an oxyacetylene torch, to raise the metal. The technician heats up the metal surrounding the dent in a spiral motion working from the outside moving inwards; this will raise the metal. Next, to relax the metal, the technician taps with a hammer. Finally, he or she tests the metal to determine if it is level to check if the dent is gone. After the metal cools, it's time to feather edge the paint, prime, block, and paint the metal again.

The primary advantages here are that this method is the only one that works well for thicker metals and larger dents, and that for competent technicians it's quick and fast. It also gets rid of the filler and sanding filler steps. However, as most auto body shops will warn you, newer vehicles aren't always able to take this method because they are made of thin metals that can warp.

The Bottom Line

Unless you really know what you’re doing, fixing hail damage is no easy feat. The good news is that hail damage repair is probably covered by your insurance. Because average hail damage repairs range between $2,500 and $3,500, and can often go much higher, it's well worth making a claim for the repair. If you would like a professional opinion on your hail dented automobile, go to CARSTAR Arnold in Arnold, Missouri. They have got plenty of experience using all of the latest dent repair methods.

A Step-By-Step Look At Paintless Dent Removal

Paintless Dent Removal, or PDR, has been becoming more and more popular because more people are finding it to be an effective and affordable alternative to getting small repairs done with more conventional methods. PDR provides a much better value than traditional dent repair methods and is a great way to tend to the condition of your vehicle’s exterior economically. Here’s a glance at how CARSTAR Arnold utilizes PDR to repair vehicles in Arnold, Oakville, Imperial, Festus, and St. Louis, MO.

What's Paintless Dent Removal?

Conventional dent repair fills auto body dents in with paint or auto body filler, which is then matched to the rest of the vehicle’s exterior. While this process can make a vehicle look as good as new, it doesn’t address the actual dent in a way that is a sustainable, long-term solution. It's also time-consuming, expensive, and may affect the re-sale value of the automobile.

With paintless dent removal, there are not any fillers and there is no sanding. PDR is an earth friendly repair method that restores your vehicle’s body to factory-like condition in a fraction of the time at a fraction of the price. PDR can be used to get rid of dings and dents from cars in Arnold, Oakville, Imperial, Festus, and St. Louis, MO, as well as auto body creases and hail damage. CARSTAR Arnold technicians use PDR to safely restore automobiles to their original factory condition without compromising a vehicle’s original painted finish, or a consumer’s pocketbook.

The PDR Process

Assess the Damage

The initial step to any repair procedure is to gauge the damage. Where is the dent? How large is the dent? How can we get to the dent? After evaluating the damage, and deciding how it can be effectively removed through PDR (as 80-90% of all dents are), we prepare the spot around the dent for the repair. Especially with hail damage, special equipment must be used to find all of the dents that might not be noticeable to the naked eye.

Gain Access to the Dent

Typically, PDR requires you to access the back side of the dent, which means cautiously removing body panels, tail lights, or in some instances, interior panels. To do PDR, you need a pathway to the dent.

Once we have access to a dent, it is time to perform the PDR repair. This is where the accuracy and expertise of our trained technicians comes into play.

Get A Better Look at the Dent

CARSTAR Arnold uses a special light board to offer our technician a better look at the offending dent from their point-of-view. The special lights allow us to get a clear look at all of the dent or dents so that nothing is overlooked.

Apply Slow Pressure to Work out the Dent

Special tools are then used to carefully massage the surface back to its original position.

Paintless dent removal is quicker, cheaper, and more effective than traditional methods in most cases. That is why you ought to go to CARSTAR Arnold in Arnold, Missouri to deal with hail damage or other dents that could show up on your vehicle.