Water-Damaged Wood Door Repair

Forums: Home Improvement, Water Damage, Wood Repair
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I have an exterior deck door that's constantly exposed to weather and wetness, so both the door and the threshold are always susceptible to water damage. I've gotten a handle on the threshold, but now the door has become a problem that needs fixing.

https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1UdztNUZkDrt-rg2s3hdh0Hyq9G4kgMtK

The door is of wood and stryofoam core construction sandwiched between inner and outer metal shell. The door could be replaced for $350-400, but I'm predisposed to just do a repair. Beyond simply removing the water-damaged wood my biggest challenge in these situations is to get a precise dimensional cutout of the damaged area, so that I can prepare a replacement piece of wood that is as close to the size of the area to be repaired as possible.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to remove the water-damaged areas, but I'm leaning towards using a router bit, set for a specific depth, and to route out the wooden material between the outer metal shells and then square the corners more precisely with a wood chisel - and then cut piece of wood to the dimension of the space that would then be open. Does that sound like about the best way to get a pretty precise dimensional cube space?

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@CDobyns,

Yes, that will give you a good smooth surface to glue your filler piece, also called a "dutchman".

Here's an alternative:

1. Crop out all the rotten material

2. Fashion some plywood pieces which you can use to sandwich around the damaged area of the door and coat them heavily with butcher's wax.

3. Paint the exposed surfaces where rotten wood was removed with epoxy

4. Add a thickening agent to the remaining epoxy and form a stiff putty

5. Squeeze as much of the putty as you can into the cut-out area, working it in with a small putty knife

6. Clamp your pre-cut waxed plywood pieces over the repair area — you're basically making as mold for the thickened epoxy — allowing excess putty to squeeze out and knock the plywood off with a hammer when the epoxy has cured. The plywood will help keep the original dimensions of the door and let you clamp without deforming the steel.

7. Sand the area smooth and paint

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@hightor,

I do the mold idea for boat repair where Im trying to save or rebuild seats. After cutting out the section down to clean wood, I still use a dose of liquidwood hardener on the remaining wood (I like the PC stuff rather than any ketone based hardeners). I reminds me of a highly watered down mixture of Titebond and acrylic water colors (Ive never looked at the MSDS to see what Its conjured of)

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Water-Damaged Wood Door Repair

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