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How to repair timber screen doors?

I want to repair cedar screen doors which have rotted at the bottom corners following weather exposure (and inattention by me). I would like to replace the horizontal piece of timber between floor level and the bottom of the flyscreen. This would involve cutting off the rotted section of the damaged vertical timbers and attaching a new piece across the full width of the door. This will weaken the structure of the door, but my hope is that this could be managed sufficiently by screwing a rigid vertical metal strip across the join between the existing vertical timber and the new piece at the bottom. The repair would be visible but not too ugly if done neatly. The only alternative seems to be spending 1000s on new doors. The doors are not prominent - at the end of a south-facing deck and used only occasionally during warmer months.

Advice or suggestions on ways to deal with this issue and on the practicality of my current plan would be appreciated.

Timber rotting at bottom corners

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Comments

JacobZ

Hi @joeth,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Please remember when working around glass to take all necessary precautions and wear personal protective equipment including gloves, eye protection, enclosed shoes and long work clothes to prevent any potential lacerations from broken glass.

Your plan sounds like a decent way of repairing the door, but it would certainly be quite involved. You would need to find a suitable piece of timber and route it out to allow for the glass to be glazed correctly. If you had some experience with a router, this wouldn't be too difficult, but if you have never used one, there can be quite a learning curve.

You might like to check out How To Choose A Router and Guide to Router Accessories for some information on their use.

If you wanted to carry out a repair in the manner you've described, I'd suggest having a look at a biscuit joiner as a potential option for attaching the bottom rail to the vertical stiles of the door. Biscuits and glue will give you a strong connection without any visible plates like you have described. This could be done in conjunction with skewed brad nails for additional strength.

If you didn't want to go with this approach, some knuckleplates would give a good connection, but as you have said, they will be visible.

Another option that may be possible because the majority of the rot is on the vertical stiles, is to simply cut out the rotted pieces from the vertical stiles, apply Earl's Wood Hardener to the ends of the bottom rail and then laminate a small piece to the bottom of the stiles with biscuits and nails.

This approach would be far less intrusive and would not require any routing to account for the glass panels.

Let me tag some of our knowledgeable members to see if they have any thoughts on the best way to go about this repair, @Nailbag, @Dave-1, @Jewelleryrescue.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

joeth

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/40961#Comment_40961

Thanks Jacob for the numerous very helpful comments which I will follow up.

There is no glass in the doors, only insect screen which I intend to renew. The photo may be misleading because of the glass in the doors behind (which are in good condition).

JacobZ

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/82609#Comment_82609

Hi @joeth,

I must say, I completely missed that.

That makes things that little bit easier, because you don't have to worry about shattering glass.

Whatever method you choose to employ, please keep us in the loop and ask whatever questions you have. It'd be fantastic to see how your restoration project turns out and to offer any assistance along the way.

Jacob

Nailbag

Hi @joeth

The way I have addressed similar issues is to basically do what you're suggesting a cut just above the rotted section right across the width of the doors. Then apply along the bottom the Earle Wood Hardener as @JacobZ suggested. I would reattach the new sections of timber with decent quality wood glue and simply screw them in with countersunk wood screws.

Where I think the rot has been able to form is because it appears the bottom of the doors are virtually touch the sill, which means water can be trapped between for some time before evaporating. So, I would allow at least a 5mm gap between the bottom of there door and sill. Then consider one of the Raven weather strip products to prevent and drafts or rain water.

Regards, Nailbag

Screenshot 2024-08-18 at 5.31.51 PM.png

I guess with what ever method you use to replace the rotted sections is going to be an obvious one since the doors are stained and not painted

joeth

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/40978#Comment_40978

Thanks @Nailbag. Glad to know that others have had this problem.

I plan to replace the full width of the bottom boards - the one on the right has already been patched to cover an area of water damage so I might as well make it whole. I have a couple of cedar boards 140mm x 30mm which should do the job. I'll make the cuts in the verticals to leave 5mm space at the bottom above the sill, as you suggest: you're right about the water being retained in the present gap. There'll be a minor difference in level with the interior glass doors but I don't think it will be noticeable enough to warrant trimming the new boards to match exactly (I'm using hand tools).

With the screws, do you mean drilling through the breadth of the new boards ie 140mm plus into the verticals? What length and gauge timber screws would you recommend, and how deep should I countersink them?

cheers Joeth

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/82632#Comment_82632

Evening @joeth

How about using a thin wide U shape kickplate to attach the bottom of the door to the verticals? Or even just two 30cm high sheet pieces of metal from the vertical down to your new timber base (Front and back of the door) You could paint the metal black for it to look functional.

8 pieces of sheet metal/tin a little smaller in width then your existing timber verticles and about 30cms long. Screw through into the timber.

Dave

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/82632#Comment_82632

Hi @joeth,

It would likely be best to use screws twice the length of the section you'll be attaching. So, if you intend to graft on a 30mm section at the bottom, you'll need screws 60mm long. Remember to use glue and sink a screw through the section up into the uprights and then several across the door span.

If you were to use brackets between the two sections, these mending plates or corner braces wouldn't look bad, especially if you coated them with gold/brass spray paint.

Mitchell

Nailbag

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/82632#Comment_82632

Hi @joeth

Pre-drill the replacement timbers first one at each end so yes in to the vertical timbers and 2 evenly spaced in the centre. I would use 8ga wood screws at lengths @MitchellMc mentioned. Don't forget to prime the underside of the new pieces before refitting the doors.

Nailbag

joeth

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/106119#Comment_106119

Thanks for further tips Nailbag, Mitchell and Dave.

Sorry that I haven't made it clear enough that I want to replace the bottom boards completely on each door. (I said full width when I should have said full height...?) The expansion below of my earlier photo (right side only) indicates my intended cutting points. You can see more clearly the previous patch inserted on that door to replace a rotted area in the horizontal board (which would make attaching a new piece below it more difficult), and also the vertical extent of the rot on the right corner.

My uncertainty about being able to make a strong enough bond between the verticals and the new horizontal bottom board is why I have been thinking about rigid reinforcement across the join - probably metal (although I could also use timber) with at least two screws either side of the join. I have done something similar in the past to reinforce the legs on an old table - see second photo.

Any further thoughts on the best way to make the join between the new board and the sawn-off verticals in this approach, or on a better approach, would be much appreciated. Jacob suggested a biscuit joiner which I have never used but could hire for the purpose, but worry that the joins might still be too flimsy given that the bottom board of the door is the most likely to be knocked at some point.

2408 screen doors 1.jpg

2408 tablelegs.jpg

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/120216#Comment_120216

Afternoon @joeth

Think I didnt explain my idea of the sheet metal joing well enough 🙂

Here is a quick sketch of the idea.

01 20-08-2024.jpg

The green diagonal strips are the piece sof timber that you will be removing (Hope I have that right)

The solid green pieces are the new timber to replace the old rotted timber. These are the full width of each of your doors.

The will be slotted up into the space once removed.

The pink vertical pieces are new pieces of tin/sheet metal cut to size a little smaller then the width of the timber edge aroun 30-40cm tall. These can be painted black.

You could use screws to attach the metal to the timber to secure (6 top and 4 for the new piece) or use bolts all the way through both sides of the metal fixings

If you feel that the door may get mistreated with boots holding it open then you could go down the track of the tin being cut in a giant U across the bottom width.

Dave

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/120216#Comment_120216

Thanks for the clarification @joeth.

It would be best to install either biscuits or dowels when joining the bottom section. Adding additional brackets wouldn't be a bad idea also.

Mitchell

joeth

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/128884#Comment_128884

I've cut the doors as indicated in my second picture, and have a dowel kit ready to join the cut verticals to the new bottom cross piece.

Unfortunately some rot has extended past the cut into the vertical sections I need to keep. I have applied Earl's wood hardener in a couple of sessions which has helped but there is still some sponginess in the timber. Here is a picture of the worst affected end:

end pic.jpg

The left side of the timber in the picture is good and I believe/hope a dowel will hold well. The right is softer. If I fill and flatten it with polyfiller will it hold a dowel and glue to any useful extent? The situation with the other vertical is similar, but not as bad.

I plan in any event, as discussed/advised above, to use metal brackets over the join for stability and reinforcement, but would obviously like the dowel joins (if I proceed with them) to be as strong as possible. My plan is to use 2 10mm dowels in each vertical - four dowels into each new cross piece.

Any further expert comments appreciated!

Dave, thanks for your illustrated suggestion. I have some metal brackets about 95mm which I plan to use. I want them to be as unobtrusive as possible: if they stand out too much I might try wood instead, depending how the dowel join goes.

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/134401#Comment_134401

Evening @joeth

Id actually keep trying with Earls wood hardener (even drill and pour it in) from there advertising and info sheets the stuff really works. Id be tempted to actually give them a call as in on their info line even. Earls Wood Hardener Its at the bottom of the page.

Dave

Nailbag

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/134401#Comment_134401

Hi @joeth

I would go with a combination of what @Dave-1 is suggesting to continue with Earls hardener combined with your brackets. The long term integrity of strength and maintaining shape will be challenging since you're replacing the entire lower section so, it will need all the help it can get.

Nailbag

joeth

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/137923#Comment_137923

I'm continuing with the Earl's as suggested - thanks Dave and Nailbag.

The treated ends will be uneven. Should I use timbermate or some other filler to flatten them off, or will that interfere with the dowel and glue join? Can filler hold a dowel?

Dave-1

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/140322#Comment_140322

Morning @joeth

Id continue with the same companies products. I have seriously been swayed by their videos of how to and showing the process of using them 🙂

And acording to Timbermate you can use the filled area once it has set with no issues (just follow the products use directions 🙂 )

Dave

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