Need to fill hole in door - putty?

[Blake Patterson]

I am looking to replace an old door knocker with a new one I've purchased. Removed the old one but it's two holes don't match the new one, so must fill one hole. There's also some rough edges to the paint around the hole.

I assume I just swipe over it with some putty of some sort, let dry, then sand down to be smooth as possible with rest of painted door, then touch up with paint (I have the proper, matching paint with which the door was recently painted).

What kind of putty should I use? How long need I wait before sanding? Thanks.

bp

[donald girod]

How long you wait depends on what you use. Plastic wood or equivalent is ok for exterior use, and is sandable in a couple of hours unless the patch is deep. But I'm guessing these are small holes, and will be protected with paint; just about any filler that is paintable will work fine. They make water-based wood filler in a can or powder that you can mix with water. These also take a couple of hours to dry.

[donald girod]

Bondo is the thing to use for big holes, but a waste of time and money for something like screw holes.