How to Replace Rotted Wood in Front Doors

Wood front doors are prevalent due to their authentic appearance and long life expectancy. Although extremely durable, wood doors are susceptible to weather elements. Prolonged heat and moisture exposure cause wood front doors to attract fungus spores, which feed on moist wood. Fungus spores continue consuming moist wood until it becomes crumbly and breaks apart. Allowing fungus growth to proliferate throughout wood doors eventually causes them to completely deteriorate and require replacement. Immediately replace rotted wood in front doors to protect their structural integrity.

Chisel
Wood hardener
Disposable paintbrush
Clean wooden mixing board
Flat wooden stick
Two-part epoxy wood filler kit
Rubber gloves
Narrow putty knife
Coarse rasp
80-grit sandpaper
120-grit sandpaper
Tack cloths
100 percent acrylic primer
Paintbrush

Instructions

- 1
  Gouge out the soft, decaying wood from the door using a chisel. Remove the crumbly wood until you reach dry, solid wood.
- 2
  Apply an even coat of wood hardener to the dry, solid wood using a disposable paintbrush. Thoroughly saturate the wood until it becomes shiny, and then let the hardener cure for four hours.
- 3
  Scoop 2 ounces of epoxy wood filler from a two-part epoxy wood filler kit onto a clean wooden mixing board using a flat wooden stick. Squeeze a three-quarter-inch-long bead of epoxy hardener from the wood filler kit onto the wood filler. Wear rubber gloves when handling epoxies.
- 4
  Mix the filler and hardener together quickly using the wooden stick. Immediately pack the epoxy mixture into the gouged wood using a narrow putty knife. Work efficiently, as the mixture begins curing in 10 to 15 minutes.
- 5
  Continue filling the indented portions in the door with the epoxy mixture until the grooves are completely filled. Overfill the gouges with a quarter-inch of excess mixture to allow for shaping and sanding. Let the epoxy mixture cure for 30 minutes.
- 6
  Shape the hardened epoxy material with a coarse rasp. File off excess material until the patched areas match the contour of the door.
- 7
  Sand off any excess material using 80-grit sandpaper. Smooth and remove all impurities from the patched wood using 120-grit sandpaper.
- 8
  Wipe the dusty door with tack cloths. Clean off all sandpaper grit particles.
- 9
  Seal the patched portions of the door with 100 percent acrylic primer. Smoothly and evenly apply the primer to the sanded epoxy material using a paintbrush. Let the primer dry overnight.

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