Repair a Damaged Hollow Core Door

Accidents happen, and sometimes, doors get holes knocked into them. A hollow core door can be tricky to repair, but it's easy once you know what to do. This article will show you how.

10 Second Summary

1. Clean the hole up.
2. Fill the hole with paper and spray foam insulation.
3. Let it dry, then cut away any excess.
4. Fill in the area with a spackle knife. Add texture, if needed.
5. Sand the area , then wipe it clean.
6. Paint the area to match the door.

Steps

  1. Examine the door damage. If it is a large hole, then you will need to do a few more steps in order to fill the hole, prior to spackling.
  2. Clean the area.
    • Remove any bits of door that is sticking out or "flaking off."
    • Sand sharp edges away.
    • Wipe away dust.
    • Clean area with rubbing alcohol or other non-residual cleaner.
  3. Fill the damaged area.
    • If you have a hole in the hollow core, then do the following:
      • Stuff a bunched up paper towel just inside the hole. It should rest just out of sight below the hole.
      • Fill hole with spray foam insulation.
      • Once insulation is dry, cut away excess insulation.
      • Move on to next step.
    • Use spackle knife to fill in damaged area.
      • Spackle or car bondo may be used to fill in the shallow damage. Car bondo will produce a more solid/hard finish but dries quickly and is less forgiving than spackle.
  4. Let product cure/dry.
    • If your door has texture, when it is almost completely dry is when you want to lightly etch the area with the missing texture.
  5. Sand area with fine grit sandpaper.
  6. Wipe area with clean cloth.
  7. Examine the repair. This is the time to assess whether or not you are happy with the result.
    • You can choose to do another layer of spackle to even the damaged area more.
    • You can add more texture with using folded edge of sandpaper (or block of sandpaper).
    • If you are happy with the result, move on to next step.
  8. Paint the repaired damaged area.
  9. Let paint dry.

Things You'll Need

  • Sandpaper - medium to fine grit
  • Paper towels
  • Clean cloth
  • Rubbing alcohol or similar cleaner
  • Spackle knife
  • Spackle or car bondo
  • Painting supplies
  • Any tool or object you need to add texture, if necessary
  • Utility knife, if using spray insulation (not shown)

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