Filling in holes in a wooden door

[ceanth]

Hi all,

I have a door which I need to put the handle back on as its come off. The handle was loose and it practically came off in my hands, so I removed the other side as well.

The handle screws into the door frame however it looks like the previous owner has done this a number of times and I now need to somehow fill the old holes so I can create new holes.

I have uploaded some images of the door where the handle was.

My question is what do I use to fill the holes with? Once the holes are filled I will need to put the screws back in to the same place as the old holes.

I am very new to this, I have used wall filler in the past to cover up holes in walls but I wasn't sure about wood and also wasn't sure as these holes are smaller.


Thanks,
c

 

[alan333]

How about fitting different handles where the new screws would then be in different places?

 

[Burnerman]

Fill the holes tightly with slivers of timber - even matches will do if you knock them in tight......apply PVA glue first though, and give time to set before trimming the ends off.
John

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Is it a hollow door (not solid wood)? It certain looks hollow, so there isn't much to screw to. I would be tempted to use a hole saw to cut a large-ish hole, obliterating the existing screw holes and everything. Then glue a thick piece of dowel into the new hole, tight fit, so you've then got some decent wood to screw to.

 

[ceanth]

How about fitting different handles where the new screws would then be in different places?

I would ideally like to use the same handles

Fill the holes tightly with slivers of timber - even matches will do if you knock them in tight......apply PVA glue first though, and give time to set before trimming the ends off.
John

If I do this then can I still screw into the slivers of timber?

Is it a hollow door (not solid wood)? It certain looks hollow, so there isn't much to screw to. I would be tempted to use a hole saw to cut a large-ish hole, obliterating the existing screw holes and everything. Then glue a thick piece of dowel into the new hole, tight fit, so you've then got some decent wood to screw to.

This sounds like a good idea, so basically putting new wood in and glueing it into place so that I can screw into the new bits (I think thats where Burnerman was also going).

Question, can something like a raw plug be used? I think the issue is that the screws are going directly into the wood which is hollow and over time as you open and close the door the screws may get loose again.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Question, can something like a raw plug be used?

No, rawl plugs would never hold in that thin wood. Either make a big hole and plug it with a big bit of wood, or drill out the old screw holes and fill with individual thinner dowels like Burnerman implied (OK this is kinda like rawl plugs, but made of wood, and glued in!).

Hollow doors are such a swizz. Usually they have a solid bit -a lock block- where you're supposed to put the latch/handle. Maybe the former owner ignored this...

 

[ceanth]

Question, can something like a raw plug be used?

No, rawl plugs would never hold in that thin wood. Either make a big hole and plug it with a big bit of wood, or drill out the old screw holes and fill with individual thinner dowels like Burnerman implied (OK this is kinda like rawl plugs, but made of wood, and glued in!).

Hollow doors are such a swizz. Usually they have a solid bit -a lock block- where you're supposed to put the latch/handle. Maybe the former owner ignored this...

What sort of glue would you recommend that I use?

 

[Gerrydelasel]

For wood on wood, always use wood glue, i.e. PVA.

 

[ceanth]

For wood on wood, always use wood glue, i.e. PVA.

Fab! I will pick up the bits and give this a go. In terms of the wooden dowels im planning on picking some up and then trimming to size to give that snug fit.

 

[chappers]

personally I would just use bolt through fixings like these