Wanting to repair tatty old softwood front door frame

[hampshire_rob]

Just had a new oak door delivered which will be fitted to the front of the house over the next couple of weeks.

The frame is large and incorporates the glass side panel frame too. It's original and we want to keep it if possible and replace the glass panels with a bespoke glass design matching the door.

The problem is the unsightly chiselled out sections used for previous incarnations of locks and security devices.

Question is what is the best thing to fill these holes? The frame is sound from a security point of view but we want the finish (painted) to be pretty unnoticeable and for the 'filler' not to fall out first time the door bangs shut or we have some hot weather.

 

[JohnD]

You might find you can put on a cover strip.

Possibly your frame has a flat surface that you could fix to, possibly it has a moulded architrave that is nailed in place - if so you could winkle it off and fit a new one all round the frame.

If you have a fancy moulding machined into the frame it will be less easy

 

[big-all]

the correct way is to splice in a new bit

chop out an oblong with a sharp chisel
slope the ends[angle at 30 to 45%] so the frame supports the repair and glue

make it big enought to allow it to cover what ever area and gain support from the surrounding area
if its a deep patch you need to allow for screws into the frame [countersunk and filled] clear of any furniture

so basicly plan where your locks going and make shure theres no nails or screws in the way