How To Fix a Hole in a Hollow Core Door (video)

Mud toupee applied to baby’s head by brother, photo captured. Tripping on the backyard cement and knocking out the first baby tooth, crisis managed. Arm broken from falling out of a tree during summer break, apply waterproof cast and all was well. Two boys getting wisdom teeth (plus some) removed within in five months of each other, bring on the third. No matter what messes and breaks the boys have thrown my way, I have handled it like a champ. Why was I so surprised when I entered my son’s room and saw a hole in the closet door?

Tinged Blue Boys — Got a problem? No big deal, mom’s there to fix it.

Fortunately for me, and you, a hole in a hollow core door is completely fixable. You don’t need a lot of skill and you only need a few supplies to get that door back to looking new. Here’s the breakdown of the supplies and the process. Be sure to check out more posts below for DIY repairs and 101’s.

Supply List

Drop Cloth
Utility Knife
Minimal Expansion Aerosol Foam Insulation
Paper Towel or Newspaper
Plastic Putty Knife (2 might be better)
Lightweight Auto Body Filler (Bondo)
Piece of cardboard for mixing
Spackle
Fine Grit sanding block
Tack Cloth
Touch Up Paint
Quality Paint Brush
Plastic Wrap
Stir Stick
Paint Key
Rubber Mallet
Hinge Pin Door Stop (2)

Instructions

Step 1:

Put down a drop cloth or old towel to protect the floor. No need to remove the door, just make it easy on yourself and keep it on it’s hinges.

Step 2:

Remove any loose bits of broken door and clean up the edges with the utility knife.

Repair hole in hollow core door — Remove loose bits of door. Fill hole with newspaper or paper towel perimeter.

Step 3:

Take some newspaper or paper towel and stuff it in the hole. Form a perimeter around the inside of the hole in the door to contain and support the spray insulation.

Fill hole with insulation. Follow the instructions on the can for best results. The Locktite can instructions said to shake can vigorously for 30 seconds, attach the straw applicator, turn upside down and spray. Insulation will expand as it dries, so no need to pile it on.

Fix a hole in a hollow core door — Fill hole with low expansion insulation foam. It will continue to expand as it dries. Trim off excess dried foam.

Let set for 10-15 minutes.

TIP:

Do Not use high expansion foam. You know how when you pop the can of Pillsbury biscuits open? Yeah, you don’t want that happening to your door.

TIP:

Before using the foam, see if there are any other areas in the house that could use some spray insulation. The door of our attic didn’t have any insulation around the perimeter. Only a little bit of foam insulation was used to fill the door hole and I didn’t want any wasted once the insulation in the straw applicator dried up. The remaining can of insulation was used around the attic door frame.

Step 4:

Trim the insulation with utility knife or scissors to flush, or slightly below, the level of the door. Remove any loose pieces.

Step 5:

Cover the insulated hole with auto body filler that works with fiberglass. Bondo was what I used. It is extremely pungent, so be sure to have plenty of ventilation.

how to fix a hole in a door — Mix Bondo on a piece of cardboard, fill in hole. As it hardens, trim off excess. Sand flush to closet door once Bondo is hardened.

Use a piece of cardboard as a palette to mix putty. Once the filler and hardener are mixed together, there is not a lot of working time. Getting pictures of the mixed putty wasted some of my working time. The putty ended up looking like a wad of chewing gum on the door. If this happens, refrain from stressing.

Fill in hole and smooth with the plastic putty knife. Let dry completely.

TIP:

Due to the wad-of-chewing-gum-look from not being time efficient, while the putty was drying, I shaved it level. To do this, remove the blade from the utility knife and shave thin layers off of the mound until flush with the door.

TIP:

Use a popsicle stick or another putty knife to mix the Bondo. Using the same putty knife to mix and apply added to the difficulty of smoothing out as Bondo started to harden on that putty knife.

Step 6:

Use the fine grit sanding block to sand surface smooth and flush with the door. Dust off.

TIP:

Use your fingertips to feel if everything is smooth and level. If there are pin head holes in the surface, don’t worry, the spackle will fill them in.

Step 7:

Apply a thin layer of paintable spackle with the clean plastic putty knife and smooth out. Let dry completely and sand lightly until smooth.

Step 8:

How to patch a hole in a door — Sand, clean off dust with tack cloth, then paint.

Dust off with the tack cloth to remove any small particles. Apply 2-4 thin coats of paint, letting each coat of paint dry completely. Be sure to stir the paint thoroughly to completely mix it ahead of time.

TIP:

Wrap the wet paint brush with plastic wrap between coats of paint to keep from drying out. This also eliminates the number of times the brush needs to be washed out. Great time saver!

Prevent future holes by applying more than one hinge pin door stop. Adding a stop to multiple hinges helps to distribute the impact of a door mistakenly opened too hard and will hopefully prevent future holes. Can I now mark this as mischief managed?

Repair holes in closet door — Add multiple hinge pin stoppers to distribute the impact of a forcibly opened door. Not that this will ever mysteriously happen again. right?

It’s not always the design and craft projects that need to be done around the house. Sometimes life happens and we need to do a little repair work on our home. But really, a house isn’t a real home unless it shows signs of “love” and wear, right? We live in our house, some of us a little harder than others, but there is no where I would rather be. There is joy in making even the little things right again and it’s all part of making a house a home. 💙