How do I repair a garage door that has some dryrot near the bottom?
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Could you patch the holes with plastic wood, then cover with a horizontal strip of plywood or particle board the complete length of the door? After painting you wouldn't be able to tell there's a repair. If the dry rot has gone all the way through, you could do the same on the inside of the door.
replace lower rail.
Not particle board, use only treated lumber or replace entire door with metal one.
We bought a strip of flat metal about 6 inches wide from a siding company and ran it the bottom length of the garage door. Painted it and it looks like it was originally part of the garage door.
I have had good luck with two products made by Minwax, if the damage is not too extensive. Home Depot sells them. First you must remove all the soft or rotting wood as best you can with a screwdriver, knife or whatever else works. Get to as much good wood as possible. Then you coat -- soak really -- the edges of the damaged area with Minwax wood hardener, using a paint brush, several coats. It a liquid that hardens and strengthens the wood remaining around the damage. Then you fill the damaged area with Minwax wood filler. It's a two-part epoxy product that you mix together. It hardens like a rock in about 20 minutes, so don't dally when applying. (You can mix more and add it to the repair, however.) It's a lot like Bondo, which is used to fix car bodies. (I have also used Bondo on wood.) Screw or attach with clamps a board or a piece of metal behind the damaged area to make filling easier, if you need to. Once the filler is hard, sand the surfaces smooth on both sides with rough and then fine sandpaper -- hand sanding can work, but a power sander is much easier -- and paint to match the rest of the door. When I do this, and the damaged area is on the large side, I often will insert some longer wood screws into the area around the hole, leaving an inch or two of them exposed to be covered with the filler. It gives the wood filler more support and something to attach to. If done carefully, it can be unnoticeable from the rest of the door. If it doesn't work, your investment will be about $20.