Bottom of Shed Door Rotten How to Fix?

sandy700

How would you fix this or should I just fork out £100 for a new shed door?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

my cheap easy fix, cut off below hinge, fix 2 or 3 2" straps on inside, and attach length of wood along bottom to straps, seal edge of wood before fixing.

victor2

Assuming the rest of the shed is OK, including the frame it is standing on, you could build a new door. Might cost a bit less than buying a new one if you don't mind doing the work.

chrisw

Mine's looked like that for the last 10 years. So I'd probably leave it some more.

Bendy_House

Hi Sandy.

Does it have to look neat? Fancy an easy bodge?!

If so, first treat that lower section - and at least the two bottom shiplap boards of the shed walls - with a timber rot-killer/preservative such as Everbuild Lumberjack. Soak it. When dry, remove the door and lay it flat.

Get a strip of polythene sheet - even a bin bag will do, tho' a bit thicker would be better - around 12" wide by a bit more than the door width. Tape one edge on to the back of the door, a bit above where the rotten part begins, so a few inches up. Turn the door over so the front is facing up, pull the sheet over the bottom edge, and up the front - you'll be taping it to the front soon too. Finally get a straight edge - timber batten, anything - to place along the bottom edge to act as a straight guide; it'll be touching the existing lowest, original-length, timbers (the end ones), and will be used to determine the finished length of the missing rotten ones.

Ok, the idea is that you pour a trickle of polyurethane Gorilla glue along the rotten ends, brushing/smearing it well in, then pull the sheet neatly around the bottom and upwards. Place the straight-edge against the OUTSIDE of the sheet, against the door bottom, so it'll prevent the sheet from moving away further than that line, run some more Gorilla - but not too much as it expands a lot - into the missing gap ends inside the sheet, gently pull the sheet up the front and place a flat board FIRMLY on top to press it down to door-front level. Fold/seal the two ends too, to prevent glue foam from coming out.

Leave for at least an hour, and slowly peel away the plastic from the front to reveal the mess, er, repair. If it's still partly liquid, recover and leave for longer until set.

Hopefully, tho', you'll have filled the missing parts! It won't be pretty, but its best success will be achieved if you have 'shaped' it as accurately as possible by firmly placing the bottom straight edge, and the board on the top - try and get these placed firmly, tightly in place so the foam cannot expand past them.

Ok, if it has partly worked, but there's still gaps, add more glue there, and recover.

Once you have actually filled the missing pieces with 'foam', remove the sheet, and use knives, chisels and sandpaper to tidy it up. Remember, if you can place a board over the sheet so it KEEPS the level flush with the door front, then you'll have little tidying up to do (other than the V-grooves. Also, the surface finish will be better.)

It WON'T sand smoothly away like normal filler, so don't expect this. However, once it's pretty decent, then paint the whole shed with a finish that'll largely hide it... I've seen great results with decking paint. My bro had his shiplap shed done in Ronseal deck paint in black (or was it charcoal?) - looks superb.

pmartin86

@Bendy_House - I goptta ask, how much are you being paid by Gorilla Foam and Kingspan?

Bendy_House

:-)

Forgot to take photos - it could have been useful tip for others - but also did a 100% successful repair on son's surf board using Gorilla and StixAll (you forgot that one ).

Fin had snapped, and area around one plug had cracked - which I discovered was from my previous repair using car body filler. The rock-hard filler had broken away from the stiff foam surfboard core and was slightly loose.

Cleaned out hole and plug thoroughly, fitted plug on to new fin, and fitted fin in correct  place using other plug to locate it - that held the loose plug in the exact correct position. Dry run first, then refitted with a blob of StixAll under plug to hold it in place. 

Fin removed, and bead of Gorilla run into space around positioned plug, and smeared on to hole sides to ensure a good bond. Monitored it foaming (which it'll do to excess if left uncovered), and pressed it back down using a wee stick to compact it when foam was stiff but not fully set. Then another wee trickle, foam, squish. When nearly filled, final trickle and then gaffa tape placed fully over hole, pressed firmly on to plug top too (into which I'd also sprayed maintenance spray to stop anything sticking to its INSIDES), and surrounding board surface, and finally a few literal pinholes in the tape to allow air out. Monitored, and pressed the tape down firmly every time it started to rise! Left for hour, peeled off gaffa, and surface needed only light shaving with a craft knife, quick sanding, smear of filler (purely for aesthetics), and a quick blow of white aerosol paint. Completely solid. And I reckon the gorilla foam will be a very close structural match to the core material - tho' harder/stronger - but should also be very well adhered to it, which the previous filler wasn't.

And I won't mention the number of rotting timber holes I've filled in a similar manner...

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Does it have to look neat? Fancy an easy bodge?!

Easy?

frugalmacdugal's method is much easier, and would look neater IMV.

The only thing I'd do differently is to cut the T&G so there's a lip  below the lower ledge (keeping as much good wood as possible, but at least 1/2" inch), then reconstruct the bottom with two pieces of wood attached horizontally below the ledge.  One which will be on the outside (chamfered slightly on the top edge), the other to act as a splice to join it to the door.

Like this -

Bendy_House

Section62 said:

Bendy_House said:

Does it have to look neat? Fancy an easy bodge?!

Easy?

Tee-hee - it takes less time to do than to write about.

You are right, and it really is a bodge. But it can work in many cases, and it's really for folk who, when told the proper way to fix this, realise, "Hmm, so I need to buy a 2andahalf foot length of shiplap board, and a 2andahalf foot length of timber batten, some 1" screws, a saw, a..."

I have repaired a number of rotten sections of/in timber this way, provided it wasn't structural, and this included some 2x1 battens with rotting ends, which were part of trellis sections I'd made up a few years back, and was now refurbishing - it would have been a huge waste to have started all over again, as the vast majority was fine, and would have been quite destructive to have removed the few rotten lengths from the whole caboodle. So, very rotten bits chopped away, all soaked in Lumberjack, and the missing shape made up using foil tape (left over from the insulation of the recent extension) in a few seconds. Peel open an end, trickle in some Gorilla, reseal, leave - and batten is 'restored'. Once painted - fence black - it cannot be found.

I love bodges.

travis-powers

Section62 said:

Bendy_House said:

Does it have to look neat? Fancy an easy bodge?!

Easy?

frugalmacdugal's method is much easier, and would look neater IMV.

The only thing I'd do differently is to cut the T&G so there's a lip  below the lower ledge (keeping as much good wood as possible, but at least 1/2" inch), then reconstruct the bottom with two pieces of wood attached horizontally below the ledge.  One which will be on the outside (chamfered slightly on the top edge), the other to act as a splice to join it to the door.

Like this -

This is exactly what I would do, if anything I would either put a 45 degree on the bottom of new wood or a groove to act as a drip.

twopenny

My house painter just cut a length of wood, chamfered at the top, and nailed it to my garden door.

That lasted for a decade or two.

But for a shed just a plank cut to size should neaten it up. Would look smarter than the original

Personally I'd leave it. Just maybe neaten the edges.