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Hollow core doors are much cheaper and more common than doors made of solid wood, but they are also a lot more fragile and prone to damage. While holes in your doors or unsightly scratches might seem difficult to repair, you can get them fixed up in no more than a day or two. Simply patch up holes or fill in the scratches before refinishing the surface and your door will look good as new in no time!

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Patching a Hole or Crack

Cut away any loose or broken wood from around the hole or crack. Depending on how the door was damaged, there may be some loose splinters or fragments around the edges of the hole or crack. Rather than trying to repair these, use a utility knife to cut away any damaged wood until you're left with a clean hole free from rough edges.^[1]
- Always cut away from yourself when working with a utility knife, especially when cutting through something sturdy like wood.
- You may need to make the hole or crack bigger before you can begin repairing it. It's much easier to repair a larger hole free from damaged wood than it is to repair a smaller one that's fragmented or broken.
Pack the hole with paper towels. While the paper towels won't make the door stronger or repair it, they are an easy and affordable way to hold the insulation foam in place while it dries. Bunch up a few paper towels and stuff them around the bottom and sides of the hole or crack you want to repair.^[2]
- Paper towels work as they are light enough to hold their own weight inside the door. If you don't have paper towels, use some tissue paper or something similarly light.
Fill the hole with expanding foam insulation. Expanding insulation foam comes in a spray can with a long nozzle on the top. Point the nozzle into the hole or crack in your door and begin spraying. The foam will expand to fill the space inside the door, with any excess expanding outside the hole through the face of the door.^[3]
- Expanding insulation foam should be available online or from your local hardware store. For a smaller space, a low-expansion type may be easier to handle.
Leave the insulation foam to dry overnight. Once the insulation foam has filled in the hole or crack, it needs to dry all the way through before it can be cut or sanded down. Leave the foam to sit for 4 to 5 hours or ideally overnight so that it can dry completely.^[4]
- Check the instructions on your own brand of insulation foam for more guidance on how long it will take to dry.
Trim away the excess foam with a utility knife. Position a utility knife slightly above any protruding insulation foam so that it is flush with the face of the door. Run the knife down the face of the door to cut away any excess foam, trimming it until the foam sits no more than below the face of the door.^[5]
Apply a layer of auto-body filler for a strong repair. Mix together 2 parts of an auto-body filler and 1 part of a hardener catalyst and spread the mixture over the hole in your door. Use the edge of a putty knife to smear and press the mixture over the hole, filling in any gaps and making it roughly flush with the door.^[6]
- Auto-body filler is a compound that will give you a very strong door, but it can be quite difficult to work with. It will normally come packaged with a hardener catalyst designed specifically to activate it. This product is available online or at your local hardware or auto store.
Cover the hole with spackle for a quicker fix.^[7] If you don't have auto-body filler, you can use spackle instead. Use a putty knife to scoop out some spackle and spread it over the hole in your door. Work in long, smooth strokes to smear the spackle over the door as smoothly and evenly as possible.^[8]
- Spackle is readily available, affordable, and very easy to work with.
- Spackle is available online or from your local hardware store.
Wait 1 hour for the surface to dry. Whether you repaired the door with spackle or an auto-body filler compound, it will take around 1 hour for your repair compound to dry completely. Leave the door to dry until it is hard to the touch.^[9]
- Check the instructions on your spackle or auto-body filler compound for more information on how long it will take to dry.
Sand down the surface of the door.^[10] Use a sheet of coarse grit sandpaper, around 100- to 120-grit, to begin sanding down your repair compound. Sand off the spackle or auto-body filter until it is level with the surface of the door and it looks flat.^[11]
- Sanding down the door will help you smooth out the repair job to make it less visible. However, it will rough up the surface around the hole or crack. To fix this and make the door look completely undamaged, paint or stain the door.^[12]

[Edit]Repairing a Scratched Door

Use very fine grit sandpaper to remove loose splinters and paint. Use 320-grit sandpaper to sand down any areas where the paint is peeling and/or the wood is splintering. Clean up the scratched area so that you can patch it rather than piecing it back together.^[13]
- If the wood is significantly splintered, wear heavy gloves while sanding to avoid injuring yourself.
Apply a generous coat of wood filler to the scratched area. Squeeze or spread a small dollop of wood filler over each scratch on your door. Use your finger or a putty knife to spread the filler around and press it into the scratches. Try to achieve a smooth finish that is even and level with the rest of the door.^[14]
- Wood filler is available online or from your local hardware store. It will either come premixed in a tube or in 2 separate parts that need to be combined before using it. Follow the instructions on your wood filler for the best results.
Leave the filler to dry for 15 to 20 minutes. The filler needs to set up and fully adhere to the wood in order for it to repair the door. Once you have pressed filler into all of the scratches, leave it for 15 to 20 minutes to dry fully, until it is completely solid to the touch.^[15]
- Check the instructions on your wood filler for more information on expected drying times.
Sand down the wood filler with 320-grit sandpaper. Once the filler has dried, use very fine grit sandpaper to sand down previously scratched area. Work in smooth, deliberate strokes to remove any excess wood filler and flatten the surface of the door.^[16]
- Painting over the sanded area will make any irregular bumps more obvious. Run your hand over the area you patched with wood filler to catch any areas that need more sanding and smoothing.
Clean the area with a damp paper towel or sponge. Sanding the wood and paint around the scratched area can produce a significant amount of dust and debris that can ruin the look of the repaired door. Dampen a clean cloth or a paper towel and lightly wipe down the area to clean up any dust left behind.

[Edit]Refinishing a Hollow Core Door

Sand down the area you repaired and wipe away the dust. To make sure the paint or wood stain sticks evenly to the area you are painting or staining, use 220-grit sandpaper to sand down the repaired area. Use a vacuum cleaner or a damp cloth to wipe away any dust or debris.^[17]
- Dust will prevent the paint from sticking to the door properly, leaving an uneven surface. Clean away any dust before refinishing the door.
Remove any hardware or hinges from the door. It's best to paint or stain the entire door to achieve an even finish, rather than only painting or staining the area you repaired. Use a screwdriver to remove the hardware from the door. You might need to remove the doorknob, hinges, or a strike plate near the base of the door.^[18]
- If you want to remove the door from its hinges entirely, press a nail against the base of each hinge pin and use a hammer to pop out the pins. This will let you refinish the door elsewhere and make the job easier.
- Check the screws in each fitting or fixture to choose the right screwdriver to use. You should always remove and reattach fixtures to a hollow core door with a screwdriver, as an electric drill can easily damage the door.
- Alternatively, you could use painter's tape to tape off areas you don't want to paint over.
Find paint or wood stain that matches the color of your door. Choosing the right color of paint or wood stain will make sure that the repaired door matches the rest of the doors in your home. Ask an employee at your local hardware store for some paint or wood stain samples or ask for help in choosing the right paint to match the color of your door.^[19]
- While taking a picture of your door to help match the color might seem like a good idea, it won't always lead to a direct match. The lighting in your home, the type of camera used, and the way the picture is printed or displayed will all change the color.
- If you can, bring in a sample of the door to help match it — such as a piece of the door you cut away when first repairing it.
Apply an even coat of paint or wood stain to the entire door. Use a broad, all-purpose paintbrush or a paint roller to apply a single coat of paint or wood stain to the door. Paint or stain any grooves or panels first, then paint long, even strokes over the rest of the door to avoid leaving visible lines.^[20]
- If you're worried about making a mess, lay down a drop cloth or some old newspaper underneath the door before you begin painting.
Leave the door to dry for 3 to 4 hours. Once you've applied the first coat, allow the door to dry for 3 to 4 hours. Even slight contact with the door can damage the finished look, so make sure everyone who might come in contact with it knows that it is still wet.^[21]
- Check the instructions on your chosen paint or stain for more information on the expected time it takes for it to dry.
Apply a second coat of paint or wood stain and let it dry. Each coat that you apply to the door will darken the color slightly and improve the look overall. Once the first coat has dried, apply a second coat to help obscure any imperfections visible from the first coat. Leave it to dry fully until the door is no longer damp or tacky to the touch.^[22]
- Many interior paints and stains will take several days to cure completely. Be careful with your repaired door for 1 week after painting it to avoid damaging your coat of paint.
- You can apply as many coats of paint or stain as you want, but 2 or 3 coats will normally be plenty to make your door look fantastic.