How To Repair Hollow Core Interior Doors

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Hollow core doors are much cheaper and more common than doors made of solid forest, just they are as well a lot more than fragile and prone to damage. While holes in your doors or unsightly scratches might seem difficult to repair, you can become them fixed up in no more than than a solar day or ii. But patch up holes or fill in the scratches before refinishing the surface and your door will await expert equally new in no fourth dimension!

1
Cut away any loose or broken wood from around the hole or crack. Depending on how the door was damaged, at that place may be some loose splinters or fragments effectually the edges of the hole or cleft. Rather than trying to repair these, use a utility pocketknife to cut abroad whatever damaged wood until you're left with a clean hole free from crude edges.^[1]
- Always cut away from yourself when working with a utility pocketknife, especially when cutting through something sturdy like woods.
- You may need to make the hole or crack bigger before you can begin repairing it. It'southward much easier to repair a larger pigsty gratis from damaged woods than information technology is to repair a smaller one that's fragmented or broken.
ii
Pack the hole with paper towels. While the paper towels won't make the door stronger or repair it, they are an piece of cake and affordable way to concord the insulation foam in identify while it dries. Bunch up a few paper towels and stuff them around the bottom and sides of the hole or crack you want to repair.^[2]
- Paper towels work as they are calorie-free enough to hold their own weight inside the door. If you lot don't have paper towels, utilise some tissue paper or something similarly lite.
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3
Fill the pigsty with expanding foam insulation. Expanding insulation foam comes in a spray tin can with a long nozzle on the meridian. Point the nozzle into the hole or cleft in your door and begin spraying. The cream will expand to fill the space inside the door, with any 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 infinite, a low-expansion blazon may be easier to handle.
4
Leave the insulation foam to dry overnight. In one case the insulation foam has filled in the hole or crack, information technology needs to dry all the way through before information technology tin be cutting or sanded downwards. Get out the foam to sit down for 4 to v hours or ideally overnight so that it tin dry completely.^[4]
- Check the instructions on your own brand of insulation foam for more than guidance on how long it will take to dry.
5

Trim abroad the excess foam with a utility knife. Position a utility pocketknife slightly higher up whatever protruding insulation foam so that it is affluent with the confront of the door. Run the pocketknife downwards the face up of the door to cut abroad any excess cream, trimming it until the foam sits no more than 0.1 inches (two.5 mm) beneath the face up of the door.^[5]
six
Apply a layer of car-body filler for a potent repair. Mix together ii parts of an machine-body filler and ane part of a hardener catalyst and spread the mixture over the hole in your door. Use the border of a putty knife to smear and press the mixture over the pigsty, filling in any gaps and making it roughly flush with the door.^[6]
- Auto-body filler is a compound that volition give y'all a very potent door, but it tin can be quite difficult to work with. Information technology will normally come packaged with a hardener catalyst designed specifically to activate information technology. This production is bachelor online or at your local hardware or auto shop.
7
Cover the hole with spackle for a quicker fix. ^[7] If you don't take auto-body filler, you can utilise spackle instead. Use a putty knife to scoop out some spackle and spread information technology over the hole in your door. Work in long, shine strokes to smear the spackle over the door as smoothly and evenly equally possible.^[viii]
- Spackle is readily available, affordable, and very piece of cake to work with.
- Spackle is available online or from your local hardware store.
viii
Wait 1 hour for the surface to dry. Whether yous repaired the door with spackle or an auto-body filler compound, it volition take around 1 60 minutes for your repair compound to dry completely. Leave the door to dry until information technology is difficult to the touch.^[nine]
- Check the instructions on your spackle or auto-body filler compound for more information on how long it will have to dry.
9
Sand downwardly the surface of the door. ^[ten] Apply a sheet of coarse grit sandpaper, effectually 100- to 120-grit, to brainstorm sanding down your repair chemical 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 downward the door will assist you smooth out the repair job to make information technology less visible. All the same, it volition rough up the surface around the hole or scissure. To fix this and make the door expect completely undamaged, paint or stain the door.^[12]

1
Utilize very fine grit sandpaper to remove loose splinters and paint. Use 320-grit sandpaper to sand downwardly whatever areas where the paint is peeling and/or the wood is splintering. Clean up the scratched area so that you lot tin can patch it rather than piecing it back together.^[13]
- If the forest is significantly splintered, wear heavy gloves while sanding to avoid injuring yourself.
2
Employ a generous glaze of forest filler to the scratched surface area. Squeeze or spread a small dollop of wood filler over each scratch on your door. Use your finger or a putty pocketknife to spread the filler around and press it into the scratches. Effort to achieve a smooth finish that is fifty-fifty and level with the residuum of the door.^[xiv]
- Forest filler is available online or from your local hardware shop. It will either come premixed in a tube or in ii split parts that need to be combined earlier using it. Follow the instructions on your wood filler for the best results.
3
Leave the filler to dry for 15 to 20 minutes. The filler needs to set up and fully adhere to the wood in club for it to repair the door. Once you take pressed filler into all of the scratches, leave it for 15 to twenty minutes to dry fully, until it is completely solid to the bear upon.^[xv]
- Check the instructions on your wood filler for more information on expected drying times.
4
Sand down the wood filler with 320-dust sandpaper. Once the filler has dried, employ very fine grit sandpaper to sand down previously scratched area. Work in smoothen, deliberate strokes to remove whatever excess wood filler and flatten the surface of the door.^[16]
- Painting over the sanded area will make any irregular bumps more obvious. Run your hand over the surface area you patched with wood filler to catch any areas that demand more sanding and smoothing.
five

Make clean the area with a damp paper towel or sponge. Sanding the wood and paint around the scratched area tin produce a pregnant amount of dust and debris 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 upward whatever dust left backside.

1
Sand downwards the surface area you repaired and wipe away the grit. To make certain the paint or wood stain sticks evenly to the area you are painting or staining, use 220-grit sandpaper to sand downwardly the repaired area. Use a vacuum cleaner or a clammy cloth to wipe away any dust or debris.^[17]
- Dust will prevent the paint from sticking to the door properly, leaving an uneven surface. Make clean away any dust before refinishing the door.
2
Remove any hardware or hinges from the door. It's best to paint or stain the entire door to achieve an even finish, rather than only painting or staining the area you repaired. Use a screwdriver to remove the hardware from the door. You lot might need to remove the doorknob, hinges, or a strike plate near the base of the door.^[18]
- If you want to remove the door from its hinges entirely, press a nail against the base of each hinge pin and utilize a hammer to popular out the pins. This will let you refinish the door elsewhere and make the job easier.
- Bank check the screws in each plumbing fixtures or fixture to cull the right screwdriver to utilize. You should e'er remove and reattach fixtures to a hollow core door with a screwdriver, every bit an electric drill can hands damage the door.
- Alternatively, yous could use painter'southward tape to record off areas you don't want to pigment over.
3
Observe pigment or wood stain that matches the colour of your door. Choosing the right color of paint 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 pigment or wood stain samples or ask for help in choosing the correct pigment to match the colour of your door.^[19]
- While taking a picture of your door to assistance friction match the colour might seem like a good idea, information technology won't always atomic number 82 to a direct lucifer. The lighting in your abode, the blazon of camera used, and the way the movie is printed or displayed will all change the color.
- If you lot tin can, bring in a sample of the door to help friction match information technology — such as a piece of the door you lot cut away when start repairing it.
4
Apply an even coat of paint or wood stain to the unabridged door. Use a broad, all-purpose paintbrush or a pigment roller to apply a single coat of pigment or wood stain to the door. Pigment or stain whatsoever grooves or panels kickoff, then paint long, fifty-fifty strokes over the residue of the door to avoid leaving visible lines.^[xx]
- If you lot're worried nearly making a mess, lay down a drop material or some erstwhile newspaper underneath the door earlier you brainstorm painting.
five
Exit the door to dry out for 3 to four hours. One time y'all've applied the offset glaze, allow the door to dry for 3 to 4 hours. Even slight contact with the door tin harm the finished wait, so make sure anybody who might come up in contact with information technology knows that it is all the same moisture.^[21]
- Check the instructions on your chosen paint or stain for more information on the expected time it takes for it to dry out.
6
Utilise a 2d glaze of paint or wood stain and let it dry. Each coat that yous apply to the door will darken the colour slightly and improve the await overall. One time the first coat has dried, apply a second coat to help obscure whatever imperfections visible from the beginning coat. Get out it to dry fully until the door is no longer damp or tacky to the touch.^[22]
- Many interior paints and stains volition take several days to cure completely. Be conscientious with your repaired door for one calendar week later painting it to avoid damaging your coat of paint.
- You tin can apply as many coats of paint or stain equally you want, only 2 or 3 coats will normally be enough to make your door look fantastic.

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Question

Should I fix my door or replace it?

Barry Zakar is a professional person handyman and the founder of Little Ruddy Truck Home Services based in the San Francisco Bay Surface area. With over ten years of feel, Barry specializes in a variety of carpentry projects. He is skilled at constructing decks, railings, fences, gates, and various pieces of article of furniture. Barry likewise holds his MBA from John F. Kennedy Academy.

Back up wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

Virtually hollow core doors are fairly cheap and esasy to replace. If the hole in your door is large, only go alee and replace the door. However, for a minor pigsty, you may exist able to patch it with spackle, and then sand and repaint it to match.
Question

Can you patch a hollow core door?

Barry Zakar is a professional handyman and the founder of Little Red Truck Home Services based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over ten years of experience, Barry specializes in a variety of carpentry projects. He is skilled at constructing decks, railings, fences, gates, and various pieces of piece of furniture. Barry also holds his MBA from John F. Kennedy University.

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If the hole in your door is adequately large, information technology may exist more effective to just replace the entire door.^[23]

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Things You lot'll Need

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

320-dust sandpaper
Wood filler
Putty knife
Damp cloth or newspaper towels

220-grit sandpaper
Paint or woods stain
Broad, all-purpose paintbrush or paint roller

About This Article

Article Summary X

To repair a damaged hollow core door, start by cutting away any loose or cleaved wood around the damage using a utility pocketknife. Then, pack the hole or crack with paper towels, and fill it in with expanding foam insulation. Next, allow the insulation dry out completely before trimming away the excess with a knife. Finally, embrace the expanse with spackle, and let it dry before sanding information technology down and so it's flush with the residuum of the door. To acquire how to refinish a hollow core door, scroll downward!

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