You may have heard many urban legends about fixing hail damage to your vehicle yourself. You will find countless videos on YouTube, for instance, pushing the benefits of everything from dry ice to hair dryers when it comes to repairing the little but big dents that pieces of hail can cause to your vehicle. And since enough hail slamming into your new vehicle can really destroy its value, it is no wonder that there are plenty of DIY methods for car repair.

1. 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.
Regrettably, the fact is that they simply do not work. The men and women at Red Bud
CARSTAR Collision Center have broken these DIY methods down one at a time for you. Red
Bud CARSTAR Collision Center would like the people in Red Bud, New Athens, Waterloo,
and Sparta, Illinois to know that there’s not always an easy DIY solution for hail damage.
Sun Exposure
Some sources will tell you that simply parking your car in sunny areas will cause the heat of
the sun to remove the dents. Common sense probably tells you that this won't solve your
hail damage problem, and it won’t. Nonetheless, wikihow insists that seven days of parking
in warm sunlight will resolve 90% of hail damage. Naturally if this were the case there
would be much less call for dry ice, hair dryers, and obviously, professional dent repair.
Hair Dryers
This brings us to the hair dryer method. The idea is to apply additional heat the simple sun
exposure can't provide. Know that as you apply heat you have to watch to make certain you
don't damage your car’s paint any further; if you see any discoloration, stop immediately.
Dry Ice
Everybody likes to talk about how all it takes is a little dry ice can get rid of those pesky hail
dents. They say that it is as easy as making the temperature cool rapidly by warming the

2. dent via a hair dryer before applying the dry ice. This method probably will not work. Even
if it does, the hail damage will only be partially removed.
Dent Removal Kit
If all of those other homegrown techniques fail you, you can always fall back on the highly
lauded dent repair kits. These kits generally come with something to knock the metal and a
glue gun. Even so, these kits can’t give you the skills and experience needed to actually take
out the dent. If you do choose to try these out, do not take the risk on any larger dents. Many
people do not take into account that you can actually make the issue even worse when you
do not do it right.
Leave It To The Pros
So, if nothing else works and you’re stuck,
must you pay a visit to an auto body shop?
Perhaps; in the end it’s your call, but at the
very least you know the damage will be
fixed correctly if you go to a professional. Will it set you back an arm and a leg? Not always.
A lot depends on the methods utilized. So how do auto body shops fix dents in the St. Louis,
Missouri area then? There are lots of methods.
Remove and Replace
If the damage is severe and the parts that have been damaged are bolted on and can easily
be removed, the remove and replace method might be the best 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 rub out the dent leaving the paint surface undamaged.
This technique requires a lot of practice and specified tools, so it is not appropriate for the
do-it-yourselfer. It's especially effective for parts not easily replaced, like roofs and quarter

3. 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 technique most preferred by
insurance companies.
Finish Glazing
This strategy is good for small hail damage and is an alternative to PDR. Some individuals
try this at home, outside of 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 don’t need to sand the paint all the way down
to the metal; rather, you simply sand it coarsely so the glaze putty adheres properly. A
related advantage is that the protective anti-corrosion coat from the factory is not removed
during the repair since the paint is not sanded all the way down to the metal. Although of
course this method is used to make repairs, other than the hail damage in question your
paint surface ought to be in good shape for this technique to work well.
Here’s how this process works. First, whoever is fixing the damage will need to clean the
damaged areas well in order to locate all of the hail damage. The next step is to sand the
damaged areas, usually utilizing a hundred and eighty grit paper on a dual-action sander.
This step makes sure that the glaze adheres well to the car’s surface. After the sanding, it is
advisable to utilize 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
thin coat of the finish glaze to repair the small points of damage. Next comes another
sanding session, with 150 or 180 grit paper on the dual-action sander. Finally, the repair is
done, and it's time to prime, block, and paint the freshly-repaired areas. Obviously, this isn’t
a simple fix, but it looks good.
Traditional Repair with Body Filler
This method is really very similar to the finish glazing technique with just a few exceptions.
The primary difference is that you need to remove the paint to the metal, and that your
grind ought to be really coarse. Obviously anti-corrosion coating is an issue under these
conditions. Very big dents cannot be repaired this way.

4. Traditional Heat Repair
For automobiles with bigger dents and older automobiles made of thicker metal this is the
method your auto body shop will need to go with. This technique uses heat, usually an
oxyacetylene torch, to raise the metal. The technician heats up the metal around 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's level to see whether the dent is gone. After the metal cools, it is time to
feather edge the paint, prime, block, and paint the metal again.
The main advantages here are that this method is the only one that works well for thicker
metals and bigger dents, and that for competent technicians it is quick and fast. It also
eliminates the filler and sanding filler steps. However, as most auto body shops will warn
you, newer vehicles aren't always able to take this approach because they're made of thin
metals that can warp.
The Bottom Line
Unless you really know what you are doing, repairing hail damage is no easy feat. The good
news is that hail damage repair is most likely covered by your insurance. Since average hail
damage repairs range between $2,500 and $3,500, and can often go much higher, it is well
worth making a claim for the repair. If you'd like a professional opinion on your hail dented
vehicle, go to Red Bud CARSTAR Collision Center in Red Bud, Illinois. They have plenty of
experience using all of the latest dent repair methods.