Repairing dent in hollow core door

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Oldtom

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Good Morning - One of my tenants put a six inch diameter X 3/4 inch deep " dent " in a brand new hollow core door. I want to fix the dent and bill the tenant for it. I am looking for a quick and cheap repair, since the next crew of knuckle dragging neanderthals will probably punch a hole into the same spot. No point in getting fancy in a rental. The dent only shows on one side of the door panel. The door is a plain, flat panel, which simplifies things.

I was thinking of experimenting with fast setting drywall mud. Not sure if it will stick.

What do you folks think? Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
I think the mud will fall out... it's a door... it moves (slams).

How much of a hassle is it to get over to this dwelling and futz with it?
 
Assuming this is a painted door, i'd wire brush the area off and use bondo. I'd check and see if there are any salvage stores in your area. Habitat restores usually have lots of doors like this , and they are cheap. If you can get a cheap one, its faster than repair.
 
Get a piece of wall panel,cut and cover the whole door. Use panel adhesive to attach to the door and if you want it fancy, cut the panel undersize and get some molding to frame it. Time effective.
Spasm has the right idea with recycle. I know my local box store has a bargin bin full of scratch and dent doors for very cheap too. Most under $20
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Oldtom
Good Morning - One of my tenants put a six inch diameter X 3/4 inch deep " dent " in a brand new hollow core door. I want to fix the dent and bill the tenant for it. I am looking for a quick and cheap repair, since the next crew of knuckle dragging neanderthals will probably punch a hole into the same spot. No point in getting fancy in a rental. The dent only shows on one side of the door panel. The door is a plain, flat panel, which simplifies things.

I was thinking of experimenting with fast setting drywall mud. Not sure if it will stick.


You didn't tell us if the door is painted or wood faced. Assuming painted, as Brybo86 said, use 2 part wood filler. Two part wood filler is part epoxy, so it's pretty strong. If it's wood faced, just replace the door.

You can do two things to make it stick. One is to increase the surface area, but drilling a bunch of small holes in the dent, and roughing up the surface it adheres to. The second is drive a few screws in, leaving the screw head above the surface of the dent and below the surface of the door. Use a ruler or level straightedge to check this. The screw heads will give the filler something to grab on to.

One more thing. Another landlord strategy is to leave damage until the tenant moves out, and take it out of their deposit. However if it's a good tenant that pays on time and rarely damages things, you might want to fix it soon in order to keep them longer. It's a judgement call.
 
It's about the same amount of work to mount a solid door than a hollow core door. Ultimately you didn't save any money. I just put in solid doors instead of bothering with hollow cores. Solid doors are about $100 at Home Depot and the hollow cores are about $35.
 
He said it's a 6" dent so I'll assume it's metal. Get a thin piece of sheet metal to cover dent and adhere with whatever you have on hand that will work. And apply bondo and blend....then paint.
 
The renter did it. Well that's easy I had rentals for over 20 years. You let them pay for a new door or you take it out of their damage deposit.
 
Quick and cheap repair? Replace the door; a plain hollow-core door is $30... You'll have more than that invested in time to "repair" the old one.
 
Originally Posted By: bioburner
Get a piece of wall panel,cut and cover the whole door. Use panel adhesive to attach to the door and if you want it fancy, cut the panel undersize and get some molding to frame it. Time effective.
Spasm has the right idea with recycle. I know my local box store has a bargin bin full of scratch and dent doors for very cheap too. Most under $20


We use to cover them like that, but we would tack the panel down, and then take a router, and go around it to trim it. Then stain it, or paint it. In a big four bedroom apartment, some times all the doors would be damaged including the closet doors, so it was cheap and fast to fix the doors this way, and they looked good too.
 
Drill a small hole in the middle the spray some expanded ng foam in there to see if it will pop out. You might need to brace the other side so it doesnt bulge.
 
Originally Posted By: danez_yoda
Drill a small hole in the middle the spray some expanded ng foam in there to see if it will pop out. You might need to brace the other side so it doesnt bulge.

...then finish with some drywall vinyl patch compound...
sand flush

or you can glue a mirror on top of the the hole....

But I would check the local used building supplies place....
even craigslist....

P.S. You can make some good money in that class if you bought right, you have low cost turn-overs, and you have volume...
But boy, am I glad it is over....
 
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Originally Posted By: JohnnyJohnson
The renter did it. Well that's easy I had rentals for over 20 years. You let them pay for a new door or you take it out of their damage deposit.


I think we have a winner. But a solid core door would have minimal, if any, damage, and be repairable too.
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Say - did the OP go AWOL without detailing door composition?

I think landlording is his second job.
He may be at work for now/no computer access.....
 
Originally Posted By: Delta
Quick and cheap repair? Replace the door; a plain hollow-core door is $30... You'll have more than that invested in time to "repair" the old one.


+1

Not worth repairing and since you have to paint both....
 
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