How Much Can Putty Repair?

JohnDucan

Hey guys,

Need a little help, asked a while ago about some door/trim repair and ended up using wood putty based on the recommendations for all the repairs and worked great.

Have some more doors in an upcoming job that need some help, but these are a little worse. Wondering how much can be fixed with putty? Size of hole, and the other concern was some of the edges of the doors are cracked and one is broken off. Not a big piece off the corner but wasn't sure the best way to repair an entire edge.

Any help appreciated as always

phinsher

If the wood has split off, then i'd try to glue the piece back on. As to what certain putties are capable of, well about anything. If you're using something like bondo you could make the entire door out of this stuff.

I guess to answer your question, putty is capable of repairing to the point where it would be more cost effective to replace the door with a new one.

painterman

When ever we do restoration work we use epoxy to repair major holes and such and automotive spot puddy for light scraches. Minwax epoxy works well.

Stan

AAPaint

Putty can do whatever you want it to, like others have said. I have literally (ONLY at customers insistant request) rebuilt one whole mutton on a french door. It was soft and when I opened it up to see how much was rotted, the whole mutton fell away. They begged me for a fix that wouldn't mean buying a new door, and I rebuilt it out of putty. I built up the area, carved the initial shape to match up, sanded, primed, painted. You couldn't even tell that there is no wood there what so ever. BTW, I used toothpicks in the putty to help span the gap where the mutton no longer existed, and even rebuilt the entire corner of the mutton to match. The toothpicks gave me something to hold the putty in place until it all dried and help reinforce the area like little rebars. Took a few hours worth of work overall, cost about $150 to customer in labor. They could have had a new door.

EDIT: This was wood filler, not painter's putty. There are many different types of fillers, and in experienced hands the results are nothing short of amazing.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

Dave Mac

Bondo is my favorite for wood repairs.

AAPaint

I use bondo on metal doors...never tried it on wood.

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

zico

Bondo works well on wood and MDF. It does a great job of filling in the nail holes when installing baseboards and trim. There is no shrinkage as it dries and so you only need one application.

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Halton Peel Painters
GTA Painters
...there's still fight in this dog

BMAN

I would only use bondo or any other Putty in thin areas.
In the time it took AA to fill and shape all that I could have made a muttin on my portable table saw out of scrap wood and then only had to us a little caulk to fit it in. cost to me $0 Cost to customer $75.
Time invlovled 10-20 minutes.
Fillers are for cracks and holes. (if you want it to last)

AAPaint

I agree totally BMAN, but this is what the customer wanted, and it worked out great. Actually, it's still there now, and it's been over a year, lol!

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

JohnDucan

thanks for all the replies guys. should have been a little more clear, on the big damage new wood was glued on. just needs a little work to make it blend in perfect. think i will be ok with putty here.

the others are just kind of bashed in and would like to get a crisp edge again. wasn't real sure what would hold up on something like that though. i think for any of the bigger stuff i will just give the minwax epoxy a try. maybe try the bondo on the light stuff, haven't used it.

thanks guys