J
johnheritage
I've fixed LOADS of holes like that.
The way to do it is to poke a stick in there first and gauge how deep it is. It looks like it may go pretty far and into a cavity from that picture.
If it does, you need to wad the bulk of it. You can scrunch newspaper up into tight balls and begin packing them in there. You want them pretty tight, but no rammed like card.
If you want to make this process even more solid, put some latex gloves on and squirt some expanding foam on each as they go in, so the foam will fill the gaps between the scrunched up material.
Basically, you're making a composite, like concrete, but using different materials. You can do the same thing with rubble, bits of broken mortar, anything that will fit in, perform as a solid and rapidly fill the bulk void.
Stop as it gets close to the surface, then finish it with a squirt of expanding foam.
If you overfill it a little, just let it fully cure overnight, then cut it down with a knife. Then you finish the surface with a fine finish filler. You may have to do one to three layers with that to allow it to build.
There are high build, no shrinking fillers now for that kind of thing.
When you get to the last layer, get it looking smooth with a scraper blade or piece of straight plastic (e.g. a ruler). Have it slightly proud all over. Then just give it a quick sand with some fine paper and it'll look super.
I've filled voids this way and had them look BETTER than the original finish around sockets / windows etc.
A lot of aerospace and high end marine hulls or frames are built with foams like this, and paper honeycombs. The difference between a complete cowboy failure and something that is the leading edge of performance is purely the care and thought involved. The materials are essentially the same.
The way to do it is to poke a stick in there first and gauge how deep it is. It looks like it may go pretty far and into a cavity from that picture.
If it does, you need to wad the bulk of it. You can scrunch newspaper up into tight balls and begin packing them in there. You want them pretty tight, but no rammed like card.
If you want to make this process even more solid, put some latex gloves on and squirt some expanding foam on each as they go in, so the foam will fill the gaps between the scrunched up material.
Basically, you're making a composite, like concrete, but using different materials. You can do the same thing with rubble, bits of broken mortar, anything that will fit in, perform as a solid and rapidly fill the bulk void.
Stop as it gets close to the surface, then finish it with a squirt of expanding foam.
If you overfill it a little, just let it fully cure overnight, then cut it down with a knife. Then you finish the surface with a fine finish filler. You may have to do one to three layers with that to allow it to build.
There are high build, no shrinking fillers now for that kind of thing.
When you get to the last layer, get it looking smooth with a scraper blade or piece of straight plastic (e.g. a ruler). Have it slightly proud all over. Then just give it a quick sand with some fine paper and it'll look super.
I've filled voids this way and had them look BETTER than the original finish around sockets / windows etc.
A lot of aerospace and high end marine hulls or frames are built with foams like this, and paper honeycombs. The difference between a complete cowboy failure and something that is the leading edge of performance is purely the care and thought involved. The materials are essentially the same.
