Repairing a door

I want to repair a door from a garage into a house. The door has nice (ish) veneer that is peeling off near the bottom. This has been becoming progressively worse over the last 10 to 20 years.

Attachment 501783

Any suggestions on repairing this?

My first thought was to use a glue to secure the parts coming off and then to simply fill in the rest with some kind of wood filler.

My next thought was to score the veneer with a knife and peel it off straight across and then replace the veneer along the bottom (however high I need to go) and then secure some of the other areas with a glue (a super glue that is thin I suppose).

My final thought was that I could fix any parts that are peeling and perhaps fill in a few areas with a wood filler (I have some things used for architectural restoration) for a few small areas and then simply attach a brass kick plate. I might still want to apply a veneer or at least make sure that the brass plate covers the entire "not restored" area.

I am unclear what finish to apply to the door when I am finished.

The door is just under 30" wide so I can cut the kick plate to fit. Unsure what saw to use to cut the kick plate. Can I cut this on my chop saw that has a carbide blade?

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....th-Carbide-Saw

I could cut this with an angle grinder and then grind it to the line.

Any thoughts?


Andrew D. Pitonyak

Thats a challenging undertaking. I face similar projects often and usually recommend a new door. The kick plate is a good idea. Cutting it with a chop saw would make me nervous. I have cut them sandwiched between wood with a fine metal blade in a jigsaw, and cleaned up with a file. Two kick plates might cover the entire damaged area.

Kick plate. They have them various sizes at the store.

I wouldn’t use an expensive brass kick-plate. I would get a piece of the thin tempered Masonite….like the clip-board stuff, and glue light canvas on it ,tucked around to the back , covering the whole surface. Once painted ,it will last for years without another paint job.

Using wood filler or trying to match the veneer is going to result in it looking exactly like - - using wood filler and a poor match of veneer.
A kick plate makes more sense.

For cutting odd things like a brass kick plate, thin metal in general, flooring,,,etc.
I use a small 3 3/8" circular saw. I have a 12V Makita, but, there are all sorts of small corded and cordless saws that work fine & come with blades suitable for soft metals.

I'm all about fixing stuff, but it's time for remodeling...

Dan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rich Engelhardt

Using wood filler or trying to match the veneer is going to result in it looking exactly like - - using wood filler and a poor match of veneer.
A kick plate makes more sense.

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I will have a kick plate by tomorrow (Saturday). I did fill in the bottom so that it is uniform in thickness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rich Engelhardt

For cutting odd things like a brass kick plate, thin metal in general, flooring,,,etc.
I use a small 3 3/8" circular saw. I have a 12V Makita, but, there are all sorts of small corded and cordless saws that work fine & come with blades suitable for soft metals.

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I now have a blade that specifically says that I can use it for metal, but probably should not need it since I ordered a steal plate that is 28" wide so no cutting needed now.

I decided to use a kick plate so rather than gluing all the loose veneer I chose to simply rip it off then I built it back up with filler. I used Epifanes even though it is from a garage into a house, it is near a hose so it does get wet and does have temperature extremes. For what this door is, it looks fine even without the kick plate.

Attachment 502043

Attachment 502044

Adding the kick plate, however, covers most of the issues and should provide some level of protection from further damage.

Attachment 502045

I used two coats of Epifanes diluted 1:1 then two more coats with roughly 25% thinner. If this was a true exterior door I would have used a few more coats.