How to Fix Small Areas of Wood Rot
Wood rot is as inevitable as a rain storm after you wash your car. Any home that is built with wood is susceptible to rot. Newer constructed homes using cement based siding and PVC trim don’t have to worry about it. But for the rest of us, there will always be wood rot in our future (if not present.) The best way to protect your home against wood rot is to keep all joints caulked and painted. Look out for areas where water accumulates.
Our window sill was just one such spot that collected dripping condensation from the aluminum storm windows (don’t get me started on those cheap pieces of $#@+. One day I will have them replaced.)
Over time the water seeped below the surface and rotted this corner of our window sill. Fixing wood rot in small areas is a snap using Bondo. For larger areas, you’ll have to replace the wood.
For today, I’ll show you How to Easily Fix Small Areas of Wood Rot.
Materials:
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- Bondo
- Sand paper or Dremel with sanding bit
- Utility knife or scraping tool
- Disposable container
- Gloves
- Stir stick (popsicle stick or paint stirrer)
- Damp towel
- Dust buster
Instructions:
Begin by digging out as much of the rotted wood as you can. Anything remaining must be solid wood.
Sand the edges of the void left in the wood.
Use a dust buster or vacuum to clean the area of any loose particles.
Scoop out a golf ball size of Bondo. Squeeze out an inch of the cream hardener. Mix the two together thoroughly until the color is uniform. (In hindsight, it would have been less messy for me to use a paint stirrer.)
Use the paint stirrer or disposable shim to press the Bondo mixture into the hole. Smooth the area as best as you can. It’s okay if you need to come back and add another layer of Bondo later.
Wipe up any excess and discard.
Wait for the Bondo to fully harden. Then sand the area smooth.
Wipe any sanding dust up.
Paint the patched area with paint (hopefully you have the same color stored somewhere. If not, you might have to paint the entire piece of wood.)
Stand back and admire your work! What rot? (No one has to know, it’s our little secret.)
Go ahead and feel it. That patch is rock solid!
Did you like this post? You may also like my post on filling all types of holes!
I hate these storm windows too.They are impossible to wash.
Why would you paint the repair and not paint the grungy wood above it?
Kay, because that’s not wood above. That’s an aluminum storm window. I didn’t feel like priming and painting the whole storm window for this small project. I have much bigger projects to work on ;-).