Repairing a door

[Andrew Pitonyak]

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.

garage_door_01.jpg

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

[Maurice Mcmurry]

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.

[Cameron Wood]

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

[Mel Fulks]

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.

[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.

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.

[Dan Hahr]

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

Dan

[Andrew Pitonyak]

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.

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

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 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.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

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.

door_PXL_20230529_232624203.jpg

door_PXL_20230529_232631843.jpg

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

door_PXL_20230530_132445625.jpg

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.