how should I fix this door?

[Stephen Sebed]

I was asked by a friend to fix an interior door. the door is from an older house and is made with solid pine rails and stiles about 6" wide with a thinner panel in the middle maybe 1/4" to 3/8" thick. anyway it is set on bifold hinges that mount one on the top corner and one on the bottom corner of the door so that the screws penetrate the end grain on the stile. Sorry I don't have a digital camera to help explain this.

So the problem is that the wood around the top screws was busted out when her son kicked the door. I have most of the pieces and I think I can get them glued back in place, but what would be a good choice to fill in the voids that are left? The door is painted so I don't have to worry about matching colors. I was thinking bondo might work but I don't know how much strength it has.

Another possibility is to mortise an area out and then glue in a whole new piece.

what would you guys suggest?

Thanks,
Stephen

[Vaughn McMillan]

I've had good success with Bondo for this type of thing. I'd glue up what wood you have, then use Bondo to fill the remaining voids. Don't know if it's any different from the standard car body repair stuff, but but Bondo has a "Home Repair" formula available that I've seen at Lowes and other home improvement stores.

HTH -

- Vaughn

[Wes Bischel]

If the voids are where the hinge screws go, you may be better off with an epoxy putty - the kind you kneed to mix. If it is just cosmetic, Bondo will be fine. One trick - if the gap is accessed from two sides, put packing tape over the front face and fill in from behind/top. It leaves a surface that needs minimal sanding - same holds true for other filler putties.

If the door is really splintered, you may be farther ahead by cutting out the bad part and making a scarf joint or lap joint to replace the damage.

FWIW,
Wes

[David Duke]

If the voids are where the hinge screws go, you may be better off with an epoxy putty - the kind you kneed to mix. If it is just cosmetic, Bondo will be fine. One trick - if the gap is accessed from two sides, put packing tape over the front face and fill in from behind/top. It leaves a surface that needs minimal sanding - same holds true for other filler putties.

If the door is really splintered, you may be farther ahead by cutting out the bad part and making a scarf joint or lap joint to replace the damage.

FWIW,
Wes

What Wes said.

[Byron Trantham]

I agree with Wes.

[Bob Johnson2]

I'd go epoxy too, and not the 5 minute type. Some good info here http://www.westsystem.com/
See the Users Guide section.