Clever Ways to Prevent Door Dings in Your Garage

April 8, 2016

It's just one of those weird things. Sometimes the place we park our car to keep it protected somehow ends up being the place our car gets the most damage. Maybe it has something to do with the close quarters or perhaps we just let our guard down a bit when our cars supposedly safe at home. Whatever the deal is, we may have just found the solution! All that is required is a bit of ingenuity, a few household items, and one highly sophisticated piece of modern equipment...a pool noodle!

A pool noodle you say? Yes, a pool noodle. You know those long styrofoam things that cost around nothing in the grocery store, those super fun, floaty tubes your kids really never play with anyway - well it just so happens they're great for protecting your car from door dings in the garage. Imagine that! We've compiled a couple of the easier ways to turn these pool toys into extra affordable bumpers for your garage.

The Half Noodle Wall Mounted Bumper

When you have no choice but to park your car within striking distance of the garage wall, this method is unbelievably simple and really does the trick. All you need is some double sided foam tape and a noodle or two. Use a box cutter to slice the noodle in half. Then cut a thin strip from the other half, just wide enough to fill the center of the half noodle. Lay your half noodle on the ground ends up and place the long strip in the center, making sure it's flush. Then cut two lengths of tape as long as the noodle. Apply strips of tape to the two edges of the half noodle and stick to the wall where your car door would hit. It's that simple! Here's a nice little tutorial that uses screws instead of tape and without the center insert.

The Hanging In Between Noodle

So a bumper on the wall may not really be all that clever, but what about the space between your cars in a two car garage? This one requires a bit more out of the box thinking. A great solution is a hanging noodle bumper. You will need one or two noodles, a broomstick like apparatus, some rope and a few screw in eyelet hooks. The construction is as simple as threading the broomstick through the noodle and then screwing the hooks to the end where you attach a section of rope and hang it from your ceiling. It best to do the hanging while your cars are parked in the garage so you can accurately place the noodle between the two and at door level. This method works great as a parking guide as well.

The Mobile Noodle Rack

With a couple of pieces of PVC and a noodle, you can build yourself a handy little mobile bumper to guard your car doors. Simply by constructing two ‘L’ shapes from your PVC and connecting them at the ends and corners, this little rack can be moved around to wherever you need it and tucked neatly underneath your car when parked. The top bar should be door height and you can cut a noodle lengthwise and wrap it around which will guard your car from rogue doors dinging up your paint job. Just remember to pull it out before you drive away!

With a little bit of creativity, your garage can be just as comfortable and functional as you need it to be. And with anything pertaining to your garage door, we at Precision Door Salt Lake City are always here to help with any of your needs!