Quick Guide on How to Repair Screw Holes in Hollow Door?

Got screw holes in a hollow door? Don’t know of ways you could fix it? Worry not! Because I have the easiest trick to repair screw holes in hollow door in my pocket.

In a nutshell, you will get it done in five steps- The Hollow Test, Clean the Area, Fill in the Hole, Put in Wood Filler, and Paint; with simple tools like sandpaper, wood glue, dowels, etc.

Keep reading to find out how you can fix the holes.

Contents show

Structure of a Hollow Door

Hollow doors consist of a wooden doorframe, thin layers of door skin, lattice, or honeycomb cardboard, and lock blocks.

The rail or wooden doorframe holds the whole door made of honeycomb or lattice cardboard core. The job of a lock block is to allow handles and locks to be instilled. Door skins are made of different wood composite materials, melamine, or plastic.

Solid Door Vs Hollow Door

Solid doors are made of solid wood. So naturally, they are strong, durable, and used for both interior and exterior designing purposes. Hollow doors on the other hand are weak because of their structure. Hence they lack durability.

Can a hollow door be repaired?

Hollow doors being made up of cardboard in their core makes them easily prone to breakage. This makes people wonder whether any screw holes in hollow core doors are repairable like solid core doors.

The answer to this question is that they can be repaired but with proper methods that I will explain in the blog.

Additional Read: You might wanna read How to Fix Screws Stripped In Door Hinge.

Repair Screw Holes in Hollow Door Step by Step

Fixing a screw hole in a hollow door is possible. And it will save you the time and money you’d otherwise waste buying a whole new fresh door.

So, how do you fix a screw hole in a door? I’ll share with you in five simple steps.

Hollow Test

First determine whether the holes are in the door’s hollow portion or the wooden frame. The process for fixing holes in the frame differs slightly.

You can get this test done with the help of an awl, a small screwdriver, or a toothpick. Poke the surface holes with the awl to see if it goes all the way through. If it does, the holes are rightfully in the hollow portion of the door.

In such a case, we will perform the following steps.

Clean the Area

Any damage to the door usually causes a hole in the door. Thus, the area will likely have splinters and an uneven surface. So, we will begin by cleaning the holes by rubbing them with coarse grit sandpaper.

Fill in the Hole

Judging by the size of the hole, you can use different wooden materials, such as a dowel, or wooden barbeque skewers.

Cut your wooden material into small pieces to fill in the hole. Point to be noted, it doesn’t have to go all the way in. Just enough to cover the hole. Take some yellow wood glue to plug the dowel in the hole.

Now, tap the dowel down the hole with a hammer to get them as flush as possible against the door. Once the glue dries up, even out the glue and dowel by rubbing with the sandpaper.

Put in Wood Filler

In this step, we will use a small amount of wood filler to fill any gap remaining in the hole. We will then sand the covered hole with 220 Grit Sandpaper once the filler dries up.

Paint

Now that you have a nice and smooth flushed surface, it’s time to paint. You can either look for matching colors to touch up that portion or repaint the whole door for a change. To find the accurate color take a color patch to your nearest paint store.

You might also want to check the guide on how to install push bar on door.

FAQ

How Do You Keep Screws in a Hollow Door?

Following the regular technique, you cannot keep screws in a hollow door. That is where plastic or metal anchors come in to rescue.

To keep screws in a hollow door, drill a pilot hole then drill the anchor in. when it’s almost in, take it out to clean the damaged surface then screw it back in.

To get a clear demonstration, you can watch this tutorial.

Product Recommendation

If you are looking for quality hollow door anchors, I’d recommend The Hillman Group Hollow Wall Anchors.

Final Words

Holes in doors are bothersome and look unappealing. Anybody would want to get rid of it as fast as possible. We understand it, and this blog is designed to share with you some valuable techniques for repairing screw holes in a hollow door in five steps.

So if you want to repair screw holes in the hollow door, follow this quick fix guide.