How To Use Bondo To Repair Dent In Metal Front Door

Steel entry doors are secure, they feature highly efficient magnetic weather stripping and they come in a variety of traditional and contemporary styles. Some models even accept an embossed wood-grain blueprint that can be stained. Plus, steel doors typically cost less than woods or fiberglass doors. It'due south no wonder they're so pop.

But steel doors aren't perfect. They dent fairly easily if struck by a hard object, such as a boot heel, rock thrown by the lawnmower or ascension fastball. The good news is, with the proper patching chemical compound you lot can permanently repair whatsoever dent, gouge or hole in less than 2 hours.

•Sand the dented area downward to blank metal with 150-grit sandpaper. Be sure to remove paint from deep crevices.

•Clean and degrease the sanded area with a soft, clean cloth dampened with either acetone or rubbing alcohol.

•Clasp out a bead of hardener abreast the mound of automobile-trunk filler. Blend the two with a putty knife.

•Utilize a half dozen-in.-broad plastic spreader to apply the filler to the dent. Be sure to slightly overfill the area.

•Smooth the patch first with 80-dust sandpaper on a rubber sanding block, and so switch to 150-dust paper.

•Mask off the repair area with sheets of paper, so utilize ii calorie-free coats of a rust-inhibiting primer.

•Wrap 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper around a sponge, dip it into water and sand the patch until it'south glassy-smooth.

•Brush on two light coats of a high-quality enamel trim paint, allowing the paint to completely dry between coats.

<p>Sand the dented area down to blank metal with 150-dust sandpaper. Be sure to remove pigment from deep crevices.</p> — Sand the dented area downward to bare metal with 150-grit sandpaper. Be certain to remove paint from deep crevices.

The Correct Stuff

Don't repair a dented door with spackling paste or wood putty; neither compound bonds very well to metal. Instead, use an car-body filler, which is specifically formulated for adhering to metallic surfaces. This blazon of filler too dries stone hard so it sands smooth and flat, and it produces a perfect surface for paint.

For our door repair, nosotros used the Bondo Auto-Body Repair Kit ($six), which includes a 15-oz. can of polyester resin-and-fiberglass filler, a small tube of foam hardener and a plastic spreader. You lot can observe the kit at near hardware stores, dwelling centers and automobile-supply shops.

To complete the repair, you'll too need a condom sanding block, a medium-size household sponge, acetone, two sheets of fourscore-grit aluminum-oxide sandpaper, ii sheets of 150-grit aluminum-oxide sand-paper, one sail of 400-grit silicon-carbide wet/dry sandpaper, metal primer and paint that matches the colour of the door.

Good-bye Dent

Auto-torso filler must be applied to bare metallic, and then brainstorm by sanding the surface area around the paring with 150-grit sandpaper wrapped around the sanding cake. Then, remove the sandpaper from the sanding block and employ it to manus-sand the deep recesses of the dent. Lightly wipe downwards the entire area with a clean cloth dampened with acetone or rubbing alcohol.

Auto-body filler is a ii-role resin that must be mixed with hardener before it can be applied. Keep in mind, though, once the filler is mixed, you've only got virtually four minutes to fill up the dent before the resin begins to harden.

Using a clean putty knife, scoop out approximately 8 tbs. of the gray filler, placing it onto a piece of plywood or cardboard. After gently kneading the tube of ruby-red hardener, squeeze out about ane/2 tsp. next to the filler. Thoroughly mix the 2 components with a putty knife for no more than than one minute. Be sure that the filler is uniformly pink, with no grey or red streaks.

Next, scoop upward some of the filler with the plastic spreader and smear it across the paring, forcing it deep into the crevice. Overfill the dent slightly so feather out the filler across the dent by an inch or and then all around. Note that big, deep dents will require two applications of filler.

Expect about thirty minutes, then check to make sure the filler is fully cured. (If y'all can scratch information technology with your fingernail, wait a scrap longer.) While wearing a grit mask, begin smoothing out the filler with 80-dust sandpaper on the prophylactic sanding cake. Continue sanding until all the high spots are removed and the filler begins to alloy in with the surrounding surface. Switch to 150-grit sandpaper and finish-sand the entire patch.

If yous find whatsoever voids or low spots, mix up some other batch of filler and spread a sparse coat beyond the surface. When this coat has fully cured, lightly sand the surface with 150-grit sandpaper.

<p>Clean and degrease the sanded area with a soft, clean cloth dampened with either acetone or rubbing booze.</p> — Clean and degrease the sanded area with a soft, make clean cloth dampened with either acetone or rubbing booze.

Concluding Touch-upwards

With the dent filled and sanded, it's time to apply a primer paint coat made specifically for metallic. Cull either a rust-inhibiting automotive primer or a brush-on metal primer. We used a spray primer because information technology dries quickly and costs less.

Mask off the area effectually the repair with sheets of newspaper. Apply a thin primer glaze and permit it dry, then apply a second thin coat.

When the second coat is dry to the touch, remove the paper and smooth the primed area with 400-grit wet/dry out sandpaper that you've wrapped effectually a sponge. Dip the sponge and sandpaper into a saucepan of water and lightly sand the surface area.

Thoroughly dry the door, then brush on 2 lite coats of an exterior-grade enamel paint. Apply the paint in vertical strokes to reduce the gamble of unsightly castor marks.

Depending on the condition of the remainder of the door, the freshly painted patch may stand out from the surrounding surface. If that'due south the case, you might want to repaint the entire door.