I have a wood front door. The inside is in near pristine condition. The exterior is a little beat up. The bottom of the door has some small chunks/rot damage, and it needs to be cleaned and freshened up. The missing chunks don't go through the door. They seem to be surface damage.

What can I use to fill in the chunks in the front of the door? Can I simply sand the paint and seal it with something? With what should I seal it? Is it better if I sand to bare wood, stain, and seal?

Thanks for any suggestions.

A picture would help if you can,one of the bottom of the door.

If the damage is rot,you might want to remove a small section of the door base and face it with new wood.

The rot might continue if the door isn't sealed well enough,the moisture in the door already wouldn't leave the door if all you do is seal it and paint over.

Being that it is the base of the door a question.

Is there no overhang over the door now? No protection from the rain and snow?

If not,perhaps treated wood at the base and then sanding and painting.

You wouldn't need to remove the entire base,just enough to get the rot off and then facing the treated back on to that area.\

Just an idea.

How bad are the chunks? And you MUST remove all rotted and soft wood. In worse sistuation we cut the bottom off and dutch repair. Depending on the size of the chunks you can use a ext wood filler. That's fine. If its big spots In the trades we actually use auto body filler a two part mix. This comes in a little can with a little squeez hardner. I know that sounds srtange but we also use it on commercial hollow metal doors and frames. You need a wood putty knife or a spreader. Now you ask sand the paint. And then mention should take it to bare and stain and seal? This depends how bad the paint is now and weather you want the paint look or stain look and what's it worth in time to get to bare wood. You don't want to stain and seal unless you get a toe kick to hide the bottom repair area it won't look right with the stain and seal because of the difference in how the stain looks because its not all wood now. A good primer sealer works well for the bare spots. I don't know if the paint is latex or oil. If it has cracks in the paint it is oil If the old paint is sheeting off and lifts it is latex. Now if there are cracks and the door is old. Go to the big chain hardware store or call your paint store and ask for a lead test kit. This is a very cheap kit that has a couple of little viles you crack and mixes it and there's a little brush ( swab) at the end you touch the paint with and if its lead paint the tip will get discolered. Lead paint needs to be wet sanded and a proper resperatory. I hope this helps you and have a nice Holiday. If you have any more questions I or somebody else will be happy to help further.

Lets be clear on this, the door gets paint on the outside after the repair, right? If you are willing to paint there are many good fixes after you remove all the rot like 21boat said. You can try to splice in new wood like a dutchman but most home centers sell epoxy filler kits. Mix it up, spread it on, smooth it out and then sand. I hgave done this many times on rotted window frames and sills.

Excellent topic, I too have a similar project I'm about to undertake.. This is a solid laminated exterior entry customized (29 5/8 x 75 1/2 ) There is no soufit overhead and so rain and snow has weathered the lower third of what looks to be repairable.. Also this entry is a backyard secondary leading into a none heated breezeway.. the inside decking floor is slope pitched so the door was custom cut to compremise. I ruled out a prehung because of the renovation expense involvement due to the existing header/jamb dimensions. A new slab is probably the best option provided you waterproof it but your restoration inquirey might be worth looking into.. A putty job should work on the lower exterior that delaminated over a period of who knows how many years. My question is which exterior wood putties and waterproofing base/paints are recommended should the door be salvable ? I also recommend changing exsisting stops and give a new saddle with hardware and wrap the sub saddle using 24 gauge aluminum If these too have weathered but still look salvable. IF so, than an attempt for a putty repair may save you some $ noting aesthetics shouldn't be much an issue. I would use a large plastic spreader to minimize sanding.. palm sander is probably all you should need.. for prep before puttying, determine first how rotted by first scoring off just above the splittering laminated surface wood.. if it seems solid by finger press after that , be sure the very bottom is solid after removing whatever loose/rotted wood.. I'm not going to bother trying to save this door if the rot is thicker than the putty will hold on an initial apllication... It is best just order a new custom measured slab to template into the existing jamb. God bless!

There is a fiberglass filler designed for exterior wood repairs. This works well for large chunks where body filler won't.

You can also create an aluminum kick plate at the bottom of the door to prevent future problems.

Okay, around here, the mill will custom cut width/length solid birch venere slab for about 170.00.. I will leave all options to the customer to decide.. ty all