Our dog (now gone) did quite a bit of damage to the bottom of our sliders from chewing. I am trying to figure out how to fix this without replacing the doors, or even if that is possible. Also, I have a couple of rot areas I need to fix, and wondered whether or not one of those plastic fixes would be better then cutting out the wood and replacing it.
Thanks, Jim
Wood flour and epoxy
| Our dog (now gone) did quite a bit of damage to the bottom of our | sliders from chewing. I am trying to figure out how to fix this | without replacing the doors, or even if that is possible. Also, I | have a couple of rot areas I need to fix, and wondered whether or | not one of those plastic fixes would be better then cutting out the | wood and replacing it.
Jim...
The answer depends a lot on your skills and whether it's a painted door. Swingman (one of the regulars here) did a door repair job for a neighbor a while back that may offer some encouragement to rebuild the damaged section.
The doors weren't sliders; but I think you might benefit from seeing the photos on his web site - go to
-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA
Bondo, or other equivalent auto body filler/repair material, is relatively inexpensive and works very well in repairing exterior wood damage without replacing the wood, is waterproof, and can be painted over just like wood. The more hardener you mix into the Bondo the faster it dries, so working time can vary greatly depending on hom much you use.
Sorry, forgot to post the link to the pictures. Moron. Anyway, this might help. Thanks for the replies so far, but the key here might be that they aren't painted...
Here is what it looks like:
Assuming you don't want to paint the door, on the door itself I'd use a router with a jig to remove 1/8" to 1/4" of the damage on the wide part of the rails and styles, fill any deeper damage, and glue on a matching veneer (thickness sized to the amount removed). I can't tell what the detail on the edge next to the glass is but removing the damage with a sharp chisel and adding a strip to match the existing detail should work. Remove the glass from the door, if possible, before working on it. In either case, tape the glass just in case.
On the rotted portion outside, carefully cut back to solid wood, install a piece of pressure treated using a half lap joint and nails, prime, and paint.
Jess.S
PS
I didn't respond properly to your question about filler on the rot. It doesn't look to me like you enough wood left there to use the filler approach.
Jess.S
This was the first approach that occured to me also. I think this is what I'd do.
That's a lot of work. I'd just put up a new piece of brick molding.
Yes, that's the key. You will never be able to fill that and have it look decent without painting over. Your only options are to replace...either the entire piece(s) or by routing/sawing as appropriate and fitting dutchmen or an overlay piece or pieces.
I'd get a termite inspection first.
If the rotted piece isn't treated (stabilized) or replaced, it will just get worse (unfortunately I know from experience). It is not that much work. You could do the cutting with a Sawzall or a jigsaw but it occurs to me that a rotary saw (which I don't own) would work very well. A little chisel work would be needed to finish the lap joint.
Jess.S
Thanks for all the response's, now I have some ideas. I really like the veneer approach to the sliders, I need to check my local lumber yard for some.
-Jim
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