Repair Options for a Rotten Wooden Door

[FiscoKing]

Hello,

I'm looking for repair options on an exterior door that's become rotten at the bottom. It's letting in rain water.

Picture attached.

Where you see grey wood it's rotten and can be dug out with a fingernail.

Normal procedure is to dig out all the rotten timber and apply filler. Sand down then paint over. Problem here is that it takes at least 24h for filler to harden and then you'd need dry weather strip all the existing paint back, re-paint, then 24hr to dry (oil paint). Wrong time of year for that. There's also the issue of the raised wood profile that gone rotten at the base. I can't replicate that with filler. I'd have to take it all off and replace with something new so it all matches. Plus the door would have to come off so I could work on it for a few days.

What do people do with rotten doors then. Just replace them? Or do people still work on them?

If the latter then presumably a big sheet of ply is 'secured' to the door frame to keep the building secure, and occupants use another door.

Thanks.

 

[Wayners]

Repair care dry flex 4 (4 hour) is the best stuff to fill but wood will need to be dry and cut out the rot.
You use wood cut to fill gaps so you limit the amount of resin filler used.
I chuck that door though, and if you are on a budget and good at DIY find a door at a reclamation yard or a second hand uPVC or wooden door online.
If you want to fix.....
You can remove door and board up opening at this time of year if you want to work on it inside.
Cheap way is cut out rot. Use wood hardener and then 2 pack wood fillers.

Paint with Sadolin superdec opaque, mahogany colour

Temp fix is use CT1 and plastic over the holes until spring

 

[foxhole]

You can get two part filler that sets in 10mins .

 

[Wayners]

@foxhole

I suspect door has wet wood and can't be taken off.
That 2 pack although quick setting won't take.

I used to look at those door and think bin it. Just not worth the effort

 

[FiscoKing]

Thank you for all your replies.

Looks like it's time for a new door.

 

[mrrusty]

Looks like it's time for a new door.

Not so fast! Just about all new doors, except very expensive ones, are laminated over engineered wood cores. They can be OK, but in exposed conditions, no matter how much care you take with paint and sealer, risk delamination.

If that door is solid wood, and otherwise decent quality, I would take it off, machine out the rotten sections and insert new timber. The bolection mouldings could be removed and replaced with new

 

[Mr Chibs]

I've used this before to repair rotten door frames and sash windows, similar to repair care but cheaper.

For really big areas, you could splice in new timber sections along with the resin.

Oxera resins

Good luck.

 

[^woody^]

The time and effort won't be worth it, and it will deteriorate soon after you put the last coat of varnish on. Many plastic filters actually hold water in the wood and accelerate decay.

The joints will expand and contract naturally, and water will still get in via those lose panels too.

By all means do a quick holding repair, but don't spend too much money or time on making it pretty.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Your postman must hate you