I knew about this when we bought the house but I finally realized how bad it had gotten and for my deck project, I wanted to paint the trim around the slider since it was due. So I had to do something.
First I took a putty knife and got rid of all of the soft wood that I could. I also planed it down to make the surface more even after the putty knife work. It is pretty rotted. Here it is after power washing the trim.
This end is the worst. The brick mold is gone at the last 3 inches. I could actually repair that with wood but I didn't.
Some close-up shots to see what I was left with after digging out the rot.
Slider door frame rot
Re: Slider door frame rot
To prep, I chose a product called Wood Hardener by Minwax. It is very thin and you brush it on. The solvents evaporate quickly and it hardens the wood, sealing it from further rot.
While that was curing or whatever it does, I painted the trim which does look much better now.
Next I decided to fill as much of the actual holes as I could with expanding foam.
I moved on to filling. DAP makes a product call Plastic Wood which is a filler. I used a squeeze tube and an entire 32 oz tub. It took 3 or 4 days to dry and then had to dry again after it rained. This stuff cannot get wet - it needs to be painted asap.
Mmm, I'm sure on my way to a quality repair!
Here's the stuff I used. If you believe the marketing, it sounds like it might actually be a structural repair...
Today when I stained the deck boards I added a second coat to level it out. Here's what I've got now. Haven't sanded yet. I need to sand and paint this before it rains...
It might actually come out alright and I am convinced this is better than doing nothing. This is the original door from 1975 so I should probably start saving up for a new one. It is an 8 footer, which is fairly large.Re: Slider door frame rot
This stuff is super sensitive to moisture. Basically I've gone through several iterations of applying the filler, then it rains and gets ruined, and I have to reapply and smooth it out again. Finally we had some dry weather and I was able to sand it smooth and paint!
After sanding with 120. Oh boy, I discovered more rot that I somehow missed before. I will have to harden this and do a mini filler exercise but this is obviously a very small area so it should be manageable. After one coat of my usual Behr ultra premium exterior paint. That is 100% better, no?
After sanding with 120. Oh boy, I discovered more rot that I somehow missed before. I will have to harden this and do a mini filler exercise but this is obviously a very small area so it should be manageable. After one coat of my usual Behr ultra premium exterior paint. That is 100% better, no?