LESLIE: Going to Iowa to talk door repair with Steve. What happened? How can we help?
STEVE: Hi, I’ve got some hollow-core doors that had holes broken in them before I got the house.
TOM: OK.
STEVE: And they’re stained, not painted. And I was wondering if there is a good way to fix them without using like water putty or wood putty; something that wouldn’t match the color.
TOM: Boy, it’s really hard to repair those. So the door’s actually physically broken in?
STEVE: Yeah, they’ve got – you know, like somebody’s punched them or something and it’s got holes in it.
TOM: Yeah.
STEVE: Are there any – can you put like a veneer over that? Like …
TOM: Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking about telling you. You could take the door off and put a very thin layer of veneer luan on top of it. I think you can buy it as thin as an eighth-inch.
STEVE: Great.
TOM: And then you’re going to want to probably contact cement that on and then refinish that surface.
LESLIE: Going even thinner than – well, from a luan standpoint, if you go to a specialty lumber shop you can get any kind of wood veneer that is already backed, ready to go. You just use the same thing; contact adhesive. And you can even go with something that has an exotic look. I mean you’re really updating, then, an inexpensive hollow door but, obviously, you want something that’s stained and has that beautiful wood texture to it. And you’ve got a lot of opportunities to really make it special.
STEVE: So you recommend just veneering it with a thin sheet of veneer?
TOM: Yeah, absolutely. Now, the one thing that you’re also going to have to do with this, Steve, is when you rehang the door you’re going to have to adjust the door stops.
STEVE: Yeah.
TOM: Because remember, the door’s now going to be a little thicker than what it was before. So you’re going to have to move them to compensate for the thickness of the veneer. But it’s not a terribly hard project to do and it’s going to come out great.
STEVE: Cool. Well, I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, Steve. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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