Wooden doors add a great appeal to your space.
But they are not indestructible. With age, temperature changes, and use, the wood becomes weak. Even if you’ve cared for it, chances are you’ll find dents and holes in a few years.
Since damages are beyond your control, you should know how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door.
This blog post will help you understand and learn of the steps you will need to fix a hole in any door. Whether you have hollow-core or solid-core doors, these steps will help you.
Steps on how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door
Before we list out the different steps you will need to take, here is what you will need:
- Screwdrivers.
- Putty knife.
- Utility knife.
- Hammer.
- Wood filler or wood putty.
- Needle nose pliers.
- Fine-grain sandpaper.
- Paintbrush.
- Popsicle stick.
- Masking tape.
- Sawhorses.
- Plastic wood.
- Cardboard.
- Expanding foam.
Step 1: Take the door off the frame
You cannot fix the hole when the door is still hung on its frame. Take the screwdriver and unbolt the screws.
Make sure you go from bottom to top. Easily unscrew the wooden door and lay it down on a flat surface. This will help you work on the door better.
Next, use sawhorses to make the door stable and fully supported.
Step 2: Clean the affected area
The next step on our how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door guide is to clean the hole. If you have multiple holes in the door, clean all of them using the same method.
Use the needlepoint pliers to prod the area. Pull out loose wood and splinters. You need a smooth surface to work with.
If you see some rot, pull that out as well. Rot is extremely bad for your door. Even if you use a wood filler or putty over it, the rot will continue to grow under it.
When you’re cleaning the area, make sure that you do not use too much force. Using too much force can make the hole unnecessarily larger. This will only increase your work.
You can also make use of the utility knife to clean the edges of the hole.
Step 3: Laying the groundwork for filling the hole
When you think about how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door, you need to understand that the hole has to be prepared. You cannot simply add the wood filler. This will make the wood filler or putty go into other parts of the wooden door.
Instead, you should make use of the cardboard and cut a strip out of it. Remember to keep the strip a few milometers short of the actual depth. This will help you fit the cardboard into the hollow space to prevent the filler to travel into other areas.
Unlike other surfaces, wooden doors have hollow parts in the center. And that is why a cardboard strip is necessary.
Use the needle tip pliers to pry the cardboard inside the hole. Be careful with it. Make sure there are no empty spaces. Double-check after you’re done.
Step 4: Adding the expanding foam
Next, you should add the expanding foam to the cardboard chamber you just created. Be careful with it.
The expanding foam should be used judiciously. Adding too much of it will create cracks when it starts to expand. Just like the previous step in the how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door guide, this will take some fiddling.
But once done, the result will near professional grade.
As the expanding foam expands inside, use the masking tape outside the hole. Create a frame using masking tape. This will ensure that the foam does not expand into other areas of the door.
Once done, leave it for about four hours. Let the foam expand and take the hole. When you return, remove the excess material. You can dig into the foam a little, it will give you more room to patch up the hole.
Step 5: Using the plastic wood filler
For this step in how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door guide, you need to remove the masking tape first.
Next, use take the plastic wood filler or any other filler and begin working on spreading it in the door hole. Use the popsicle stick to spread the filler evenly. Make sure that the gap is completely sealed.
Ensure that when it solidifies it does not have any bubbles in it. Remember to add some extra filler. This will make the sanding process easier in the end.
Wait for the filler to dry. Plastic fillers should be preferred as they give a better finish. Regardless, you can use any type of filler.
Step 6: Sanding the patched up area and painting over it
The last step of the how to fix a hole in a hollow wooden door guide is to use sanding paper. Ensure it is fine-grit sanding paper.
After the filler has dried, sand the spot. Make sure that you have a smooth surface. After that, wipe it off with a damp, clean cloth. You can also use a towel.
Make sure that the area is dry. Then paint over the area. Needless to say, the paint should be of the same color as the door. And if you have some time at hand, you can give the door a new paint coat.
Step 7: Re-attach the door
Once the paint is dry, all you have to do is attach the door to its hinges again. Follow the same process, bottom to top.
Conclusion
Fixing a door hole is surprisingly easy. You can even make use of epoxy to get the same results. Remember to create a chamber in between the door hole and other undamaged areas.
Doing so will help you keep the results of the patch-up for longer.
Also, when you add the expanding foam, filler of any kind, and the layer of paint, give it ample time to dry up.
