A Hole In The Door: How To Fix It?

If you find that there is a hole in the door of your house, it is a common issue. When the doors are made of low-quality material, there will be holes in the door over time. Are you are facing the same issue? If yes, there is good news for you. In this article, we tell you the easy solutions for fixing this issue. It is as easy as fixing broken eyeglasses. You can fix the hollow door with easily available materials at a local store that deals in hardware and other spare parts. You can fill most of the holes with spray foam or liquid insulation. For the remaining part, you need to have some sand to fill it. Moreover, you will have to use some paints to cover it up.

How to fix a hole

Required Materials For Repairing a Hole in The Door

First, let us discuss the things that you require while fixing the hole are as follow:

• Expanding foam
• Utility knife
• Putty knife
• 100-grit sandpaper
• Auto-body filler
• Hardener catalyst
• Sticks
• Spackle
• Paintbrushes
• Paint color matching with your door color

Steps to Fix a Hole in The Door

Fixing a hole in the door is not a lengthy procedure. It will take 60-120 minutes only. In this article, we tell you to fix this common problem of your house. You can fix it by following these simple steps:

Cut The Loose Plywood

Find some loose plywood around the hole. Cut this loose plywood with a sharp knife. Make sure that you cut the plywood around the ripped edges. When you see that the hole is clean with no ripped edges, it means that you have done this first step well.

Put Some Paper Towels into The Hole

When you have made the edges of the hole smooth, the next step is to push some paper towels into the hole. Take 4-5 paper towels and make sure that you arrange them perfectly and make them firm at their place. The purpose of pushing some paper towels into the hole is that you want to set the foam that you will add to fill the hole. But if you do not pack the hole with paper towels, the foam will not set in its place. Further, it is useful to fill the hole with paper towels because the lightweight paper towels can create resistance against the walls of the door.

Squirt Some Foam into The Hole

Fill the hole with a sufficient amount of foam. Make sure that you have filled the hollow space completely with this foam. A large can contains this foam, and it has a long tip that helps you apply the foam easily. You can get this can of foam from any hardware store or any utility store easily. You should prefer to purchase a can of foam that has low expansion always. It will not create much mess.

Let The Foam Gets Dried Overnight

When you have applied a sufficient amount of foam, let this foam dry overnight. Hence, it will dry in a well way. You can let this foam dry for some hours as well. But for the best results, you will have to wait overnight.

Cut The Excess Foam

Once the foam is dried, you will see some of its parts will be some inches away from your door. The reason is that this foam expands up to a large amount. Cut the excess foam with the help of a knife. Make sure that the foam stays lower as compared to the door surface.

Use The Auto-Body Filler

Pour the auto-body filler from the container into a plastic bowl. The next step is to mix the hardener catalyst. Add this hardener catalyst double than the auto-body filler. This mixture will harden the door in no time. You can use a stick to mix this mixture to make it a well-blended mixture. Follow these simple steps:

• Take 5-milliliter auto body filler and 2.5-milliliter hardener catalyst. Scoop both of them out into a plastic bowl.
• If you feel that you need some more material, you can always add some more.
• You can easily get the auto-body filler and hardener catalyst from a hardware store or any utility store.

Use The Mixture Over The Dried Foam

Once the mixture is ready, apply this well-blended mixture over the dried foam. You can use any stick to squeeze some of the mixtures out of the plastic bowl. The next step is to apply this mixture over the dried foam to fill the hole in your door. Make sure that you are working quickly at that time because this mixture gets dried in no time. Moreover, this mixture hardens quickly.

When you have applied the mixture, wait for 5-7 minutes. After this time, you will find that the mixture has begun to thicken. With the help of a knife, scrape the mixture across the whole hole. This step will make the surface smooth and will remove the excess mixture. So when you have smoothened the surface, wait for a while. After some time, the mixture will be dried well.

Use The Sandpaper to Smoothen The Surface

When the filler mixture is dried completely, use sandpaper to make the surface smooth. You can easily get it from any hardware store. This sandpaper will remove the excess particles of the mixture and will make the surface smoother than before. In addition, this sandpaper will remove all the excess expanding foam that is visible around the edges of the door.

Apply Spackle Over The Hole

Now, you need to apply a spackle layer over the hole by using a putty knife.  You can get the spackle at your nearby hardware store. You need to do it with smooth strokes. When you have applied the layer of spackle smoothly with a putty knife, let it dry for some time. Wait for almost 45-60 minutes.

Fixing a hole in the door

Make The Dried Spackle Smooth With The Sandpaper

When you find that the spackle is dried well, you need to make it smooth with sandpaper. The reason is that the dried spackle is not smooth. You can use 100-grit sandpaper or any other sandpaper as well.

Apply The Paint in The Final Step

Once the dried spackle is sanded with sandpaper, you need to apply a coat of paint in the final step. Use a paintbrush to apply the paint over the hole of your door. Make sure that you are working in smooth and long strokes. Hence, it will make the paint layer uniform by looks. When you have applied the paint, wait for 45-60 minutes to let it dry well. In this time, you will get the hole fixed.

Fixing a hole in the door

Precautions

• You can cut the excess foam when it is totally dry. If you cut the wet foam, it will damage the process of filling the hole. Therefore, when you feel that the foam is wet, let it dry for some hours. After waiting for some hours, you will find that the foam is dry completely.
• Make sure that you are using another sandpaper for this process. Moreover, do not use the previously used sandpaper.
• Always use the same color of paint that matches your door color. For this purpose, you can visit the nearby paint store. After looking at all the options, you will find the closet color for the door. But if you do not find the exact paint color at the store, you can use some paint sprays.

Summary

So if you are facing a problem due to a hole in your door, do not worry. We have given you some easy instructions to fix a hole in the door. You need to collect all the required materials from your nearby hardware store. The whole process will take almost 60-120 minutes. Moreover, take care of all the precautions mentioned in this article while doing this process. Finally, get your door fixed within an hour by following our instructions and steps.