Door repair

March 31, 2008 10:09 AM

DIYFilter. Had party. Woke up next morning and noticed hole in bathroom door. The door is fairly new. Replace door or fix hole?

Is there some sort of repair kit for fixing a hole in the door or should I just buy a new door?

posted by chugg to home & garden (16 comments total)

Well, is it a hollow plywood door? a solid wood door? An aluminum/steel/etc. door?
posted by gyusan at 10:13 AM on March 31, 2008

A photo would help.
posted by zippy at 10:13 AM on March 31, 2008

It is a hollow wood door. The material is probably between 1/16" and 1/8" thick. It is new-ish. The material is still there it is just caved in a little bit. I don't have a photo but am looking for one online.
posted by chugg at 10:22 AM on March 31, 2008

Similar to this.
posted by chugg at 10:27 AM on March 31, 2008

Is the door painted? Is the grain of the wood visible through the existing paint? If it is painted with a smooth finish you might be able to get away with some spackling within the hole and very carefully picking out a paint of the same finish and color to cover it with.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 10:27 AM on March 31, 2008

Do you own or rent?

If you can find a match, it's easier just to buy a hollow door replacement. Fixing them is a pain in the keester.

What I'd recommend, in order of preference:

1. If you can find a match, buy a replacement door.
   
2. Switch the door with a different door in a lower-traffic area.
   
3. Attempt to fix door.
   

posted by unixrat at 10:28 AM on March 31, 2008

Similar to this.

If the finish on the door is similar, you can probably fill and paint. How this squares with your lease in terms of fulfilling duty to repair minor damage, I'm not sure.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 10:30 AM on March 31, 2008

We own. It is a condo apartment that is about five years old. I assume that it wouldn't be hard to find a replacement from a big box hardware store as it looks like a fairly standard type of door.

I was planning to go and get a new door but was wondering if there is some sort of kit or standard way to repair a door like this.
posted by chugg at 10:37 AM on March 31, 2008

Lightweight spackle and paint the whole door. Worst case, it fails and you can then worry about replacing the door.
posted by nicwolff at 10:48 AM on March 31, 2008

This is a job for Durham's
posted by hortense at 11:14 AM on March 31, 2008

Most often people just fill the gap with joint compound and sand it down then paint it. Pretty easy job, really.

Not gonna self link here, but there are stores who sell exactly what you want for little to no money that aren't big box stores. Our interior hollow core doors, for example, don't exceed $12 each...and we usually offer 25% off doors cuz we're overstocked.
posted by TomMelee at 11:22 AM on March 31, 2008

If the damage is on the inside, why not hang a mirror over it?
posted by mrleec at 11:54 AM on March 31, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Joint compound may not survive a good hard slam. Bondo is much stronger, and stays put better.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:01 PM on March 31, 2008

Fix the door. If the place is more than a year or two old, things might have settled, making it a real pain to hang a door.
posted by acoutu at 1:52 PM on March 31, 2008

Could the bathroom door support a long mirror that would hide the ding?
posted by theora55 at 2:27 PM on March 31, 2008

In a moment of anger....uh, a friend of mine kicked a door like this, leaving a hole about 8x5" on just one side.

The hole is at the bottom of the door, and the door is white, so he just taped a sheet of white printer paper over it, thinking that no one would notice.

And guess what? Hardly anyone has noticed! (I notice it, but I don't say anything.)
posted by SlyBevel at 12:29 PM on April 1, 2008