How To Repair A Door With A Hole In It

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Hollow core doors are much cheaper and more common than doors made of solid wood, but they are also a lot more than delicate and prone to damage. While holes in your doors or unsightly scratches might seem hard to repair, you can get them fixed up in no more than a day or 2. Simply patch up holes or fill in the scratches earlier refinishing the surface and your door will look practiced equally new in no time!

one
Cut away any loose or broken wood from around the hole or fissure. Depending on how the door was damaged, there may be some loose splinters or fragments effectually the edges of the hole or crack. Rather than trying to repair these, employ a utility knife to cut away any damaged wood until y'all're left with a clean pigsty free from rough edges.^[1]
- E'er cut away from yourself when working with a utility knife, especially when cutting through something sturdy similar woods.
- You may need to make the hole or crack bigger before y'all tin begin repairing it. It's much easier to repair a larger hole free from damaged wood than it is to repair a smaller i that'south fragmented or broken.
ii
Pack the pigsty with newspaper towels. While the paper towels won't make the door stronger or repair it, they are an easy and affordable style to hold the insulation foam in identify while it dries. Bunch up a few newspaper towels and stuff them around the bottom and sides of the hole or crack you want to repair.^[ii]
- Paper towels piece of work as they are calorie-free plenty to hold their own weight inside the door. If you don't have paper towels, utilise some tissue newspaper or something similarly light.
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3
Fill the pigsty with expanding foam insulation. Expanding insulation foam comes in a spray can with a long nozzle on the summit. Betoken the nozzle into the hole or cleft in your door and begin spraying. The foam will expand to fill the space inside the door, with whatever excess expanding exterior the hole through the face of the door.^[3]
- Expanding insulation foam should exist available online or from your local hardware store. For a smaller space, a depression-expansion type may be easier to handle.
four
Leave the insulation foam to dry overnight. Once the insulation foam has filled in the hole or scissure, it needs to dry all the way through before information technology tin can be cut or sanded downwardly. Leave the foam to sit for 4 to 5 hours or ideally overnight so that it tin dry completely.^[4]
- Check the instructions on your own brand of insulation foam for more guidance on how long it will take to dry out.
five

Trim away the excess cream with a utility pocketknife. Position a utility knife slightly above any protruding insulation foam and then that it is flush with the confront of the door. Run the knife down the face of the door to cut away any excess foam, trimming it until the foam sits no more than 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) below the face of the door.^[five]
6
Use a layer of auto-body filler for a potent repair. Mix together 2 parts of an auto-body filler and 1 part of a hardener catalyst and spread the mixture over the hole in your door. Use the edge of a putty knife to smear and press the mixture over the pigsty, filling in any gaps and making information technology roughly flush with the door.^[half-dozen]
- Auto-body filler is a compound that will give you a very strong door, but it tin be quite difficult to work with. It will unremarkably come packaged with a hardener catalyst designed specifically to actuate it. This production is available online or at your local hardware or auto store.
7
Cover the hole with spackle for a quicker fix. ^[7] If you don't have auto-body filler, y'all can use spackle instead. Employ a putty knife to scoop out some spackle and spread it over the hole in your door. Work in long, polish strokes to smear the spackle over the door as smoothly and evenly as possible.^[eight]
- Spackle is readily bachelor, affordable, and very easy to work with.
- Spackle is available online or from your local hardware store.
8
Look 1 hour for the surface to dry. Whether you repaired the door with spackle or an motorcar-trunk filler compound, information technology will take around 1 hr for your repair compound to dry completely. Go out the door to dry out until information technology is hard to the bear on.^[9]
- Check the instructions on your spackle or auto-body filler compound for more information on how long it will take to dry.
9
Sand down the surface of the door. ^[10] Use a sail of fibroid dust sandpaper, around 100- to 120-grit, to begin sanding down your repair compound. Sand off the spackle or auto-body filter until information technology is level with the surface of the door and it looks flat.^[11]
- Sanding downwardly the door volition assistance you smooth out the repair task to make information technology less visible. Still, it will rough upward the surface effectually the hole or crack. To prepare this and make the door look completely undamaged, pigment or stain the door.^[12]
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1
Use very fine grit sandpaper to remove loose splinters and paint. Apply 320-grit sandpaper to sand downwardly any areas where the pigment is peeling and/or the wood is splintering. Make clean upwardly the scratched expanse so that you tin can patch it rather than piecing information technology back together.^[13]
- If the wood is significantly splintered, wear heavy gloves while sanding to avoid injuring yourself.
2
Apply a generous coat of wood filler to the scratched area. Squeeze or spread a small dollop of forest filler over each scratch on your door. Employ your finger or a putty pocketknife to spread the filler around and printing it into the scratches. Try to achieve a smooth end that is even and level with the rest of the door.^[14]
- Wood filler is available online or from your local hardware shop. It volition either come up premixed in a tube or in 2 split up parts that demand to exist combined before using it. Follow the instructions on your woods filler for the best results.
three
Leave the filler to dry out for 15 to 20 minutes. The filler needs to set up and fully adhere to the wood in order for it to repair the door. One time yous have pressed filler into all of the scratches, exit it for 15 to 20 minutes to dry fully, until it is completely solid to the touch.^[fifteen]
- Check the instructions on your forest filler for more than data on expected drying times.
4
Sand down the wood filler with 320-grit sandpaper. One time the filler has stale, utilise very fine grit sandpaper to sand down previously scratched area. Work in smooth, deliberate strokes to remove any excess wood filler and flatten the surface of the door.^[16]
- Painting over the sanded area will make any irregular bumps more than obvious. Run your hand over the expanse you patched with woods filler to take hold of any areas that need more sanding and smoothing.
5

Clean the area with a damp newspaper towel or sponge. Sanding the wood and paint around the scratched expanse tin produce a significant amount of dust and droppings that can ruin the look of the repaired door. Dampen a clean cloth or a paper towel and lightly wipe down the area to clean upwards whatsoever grit left behind.

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1
Sand downwardly the expanse you lot repaired and wipe abroad the grit. To make sure the paint or wood stain sticks evenly to the area you are painting or staining, use 220-grit sandpaper to sand down the repaired surface area. Employ a vacuum cleaner or a damp cloth to wipe abroad whatever dust or debris.^[17]
- Dust will prevent the paint from sticking to the door properly, leaving an uneven surface. Clean away any dust before refinishing the door.
2
Remove any hardware or hinges from the door. It'due south best to paint or stain the entire door to accomplish an even finish, rather than only painting or staining the surface area yous repaired. Use a screwdriver to remove the hardware from the door. You might demand to remove the doorknob, hinges, or a strike plate near the base of the door.^[eighteen]
- If you want to remove the door from its hinges entirely, press a smash confronting the base of each hinge pin and apply a hammer to pop out the pins. This will let yous refinish the door elsewhere and make the task easier.
- Check the screws in each fitting or fixture to choose the right screwdriver to use. Y'all should always remove and reattach fixtures to a hollow core door with a screwdriver, every bit an electric drill can hands harm the door.
- Alternatively, y'all could use painter'due south record to tape off areas yous don't want to paint over.
3
Notice paint or wood stain that matches the color of your door. Choosing the right color of pigment or wood stain will make sure that the repaired door matches the rest of the doors in your home. Ask an employee at your local hardware store for some paint or wood stain samples or ask for help in choosing the right paint to match the color of your door.^[19]
- While taking a pic of your door to help match the color might seem like a skilful idea, it won't always atomic number 82 to a direct match. The lighting in your home, the type of camera used, and the way the flick is printed or displayed will all change the colour.
- If you tin, bring in a sample of the door to help lucifer it — such as a slice of the door you cutting away when starting time repairing it.
4
Employ an even coat of pigment or woods stain to the entire door. Use a wide, all-purpose paintbrush or a pigment roller to use a single glaze of paint or wood stain to the door. Paint or stain any grooves or panels first, so paint long, fifty-fifty strokes over the rest of the door to avoid leaving visible lines.^[twenty]
- If y'all're worried almost making a mess, lay down a drop cloth or some old newspaper underneath the door before you begin painting.
five
Leave the door to dry out for 3 to 4 hours. Once you've practical the get-go glaze, allow the door to dry for iii to 4 hours. Even slight contact with the door can damage the finished look, and so make sure anybody who might come in contact with it knows that it is still moisture.^[21]
- Check the instructions on your called paint or stain for more information on the expected time information technology takes for it to dry.
6
Apply a 2d coat of paint or woods stain and let it dry. Each coat that you apply to the door will darken the color slightly and improve the expect overall. One time the outset coat has stale, apply a second coat to assist obscure whatsoever imperfections visible from the first coat. Get out it to dry fully until the door is no longer clammy or tacky to the bear on.^[22]
- Many interior paints and stains will accept several days to cure completely. Be careful with your repaired door for one week afterwards painting information technology to avoid damaging your glaze of pigment.
- You tin employ as many coats of paint or stain equally you want, but 2 or three coats will normally be plenty to make your door wait fantastic.
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Should I ready my door or replace it?

Barry Zakar is a professional handyman and the founder of Little Ruddy Truck Home Services based in the San Francisco Bay Expanse. With over ten years of feel, Barry specializes in a diverseness of carpentry projects. He is skilled at amalgam decks, railings, fences, gates, and various pieces of furniture. Barry as well holds his MBA from John F. Kennedy University.

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Most hollow core doors are fairly cheap and esasy to replace. If the pigsty in your door is large, simply go ahead and supplant the door. However, for a small-scale hole, you may be able to patch information technology with spackle, and and then sand and repaint it to lucifer.
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Can yous patch a hollow core door?

Barry Zakar is a professional handyman and the founder of Little Blood-red Truck Habitation Services based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over x years of experience, Barry specializes in a variety of carpentry projects. He is skilled at amalgam decks, railings, fences, gates, and various pieces of furniture. Barry too holds his MBA from John F. Kennedy Academy.

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If the hole in your door is adequately large, it may be more effective to only supervene upon the entire door.^[23]

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Things You'll Need

Utility knife
Paper towels
Expanding insulation foam
Automobile-body filler or spackle
Putty knife
120-grit sandpaper
320-grit sandpaper

320-grit sandpaper
Wood filler
Putty knife
Clammy cloth or paper towels

220-grit sandpaper
Pigment or forest stain
Broad, all-purpose paintbrush or paint roller

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Article Summary X

To repair a damaged hollow core door, first by cut away whatsoever loose or broken wood around the damage using a utility knife. And then, pack the hole or crack with newspaper towels, and fill it in with expanding foam insulation. Side by side, allow the insulation dry completely before trimming abroad the backlog with a knife. Finally, cover the area with spackle, and let it dry before sanding information technology down and then it'southward flush with the residue of the door. To learn how to refinish a hollow core door, scroll down!

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