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How to fix a cracked door

bilcruise
Building a Reputation

How to fix a cracked door

Looking for an advice on how to fix this crack on my door. Pretty sure I have seen a filler product ads somewhere that is easy to use to fill the crack and it makes the door looks as if the crack was never there.

 

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Noyade
Kind of a Big Deal

Re: How to fix a cracked door

Lock me in for another person suggesting painting the entire door, Bilcruise.

Re: How to fix a cracked door

@bilcruise,

 

Even with a really close match, you'll need to feather your new paint into the old if doing a patch repair. Hard transition lines like the square you previously painted will always be noticeable. By painting the area and then using a semi-dry brush to drag the paint lightly outwards, you'll blend it into the surrounding area. I'd recommend this blended area radiates out by around 10cm from the damaged portion.

 

Mitchell

 

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bilcruise
Building a Reputation

Re: How to fix a cracked door

An update from me. So I ended up cutting a small piece of the door that looks like this.

 

image.jpg

The staff at Bunnings did the paint match and came up with this.

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I was told to give it a good shake for 1-2 minutes before painting, and I did just that, except I did it longer just to make sure it’s mixed. I then used this brush to paint it.

image.jpg

The result (circled in turquoise colour) doesn’t seem to match the original paint.

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To me, it doesn’t look like the right colour but a friend of mine suggested to wait for a few days or even weeks to let the paint be cured and if possible, to repaint with a roller instead of a brush as it will give a better blend/ match.

 

What do you guys think? I am not sure at this point if this is the right colour.

 

EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How to fix a cracked door

Hello @bilcruise

 

It's much better than that first batch that you used, but it is still noticeable, the reason for this is because the paint is so new and the paint on your door is not. It will take time for the new paint to blend in, I recommend giving it a week or two to let it settle and blend in. But if it still bothers you, perhaps it's time to consider painting the door.

 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

 

Eric

 

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Re: How to fix a cracked door

Hi @bilcruise,

 

That's not a particularly excellent colour match. As mentioned previously, you might be better off with white colour cards. Those hard edges you're painting will always be discernible, even with a much closer match. The eye is really good at picking up transitions and shapes, and it's never a great idea to paint a square. I've put a video together showing you how to feather your edges. Whenever I've done a colour match for a customer, no matter how good it is, I always advise them to feather and blend it into the surrounding area.

 

I have chosen quite a grey-white as the base colour and a stark white as the repair colour to illustrate a worst-case scenario. It would be my opinion that the colour match you currently have is too far off to blend sufficiently. However, I wanted to show in the video that although you can still see the painted section after feathering, it draws far less attention than a hard-edged shape.

 

Mitchell

 

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bilcruise
Building a Reputation

Re: How to fix a cracked door

Hey @EricL @MitchellMc , it's been more than a week now and I think the colour match is too far off as what @MitchellMc said.

 

Thanks for demonstrating the difference between painting hard edges vs feathered edges. It does make a difference.

 

So, in that case, my best bet is to get those colour cards and pick the one that is closest to my door colour, yes?

 

Any recommendation on the type of paint I should use? Also, would painting by a roller make a difference in terms of the smoothness of the blend?

Re: How to fix a cracked door

Hi @bilcruise,

 

I'm sorry to hear that the colour was not a correct match.

 

I suggest picking up a dozen white colour cards and selecting the closest match at home. I'm confident there will be a closer match than your current paint.

 

Typically, doors and architraves would be painted in an oil or water-based enamel paint. It's harder-wearing than wall paint. Your earlier comment mentioned that the door was painted in Taubmans Tradex Low-Sheen Wall Paint. So, if you are looking to match that paint, you'd need something with a low-sheen finish. The sample pots you're getting are more of a matt finish, and likely won't have a comparable sheen level. You might not notice this difference, though. I'd recommend getting the colour at least right with the sample pots first, and then if the sheen is bothering you, you can have a low-sheen paint mixed up in the correct colour. You'll find low-sheen only available in one-litre cans.

 

Painting with a roller will generally give you a smoother finish, though it will limit your ability to blend and feather. You could paint the immediate repair and do a light coat around the perimeter with a semi-dry roller.

 

Please keep us updated and reach out if you have further questions.

 

Mitchell

 

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