“Before repairing my Jamb”
I need to repair a door jamb, technically, I need to repair some old door jamb strike plate hole. While installing a storm door on the front door of my home. I had to move my doorknob down because it was too close to the storm door handle. All I needed was a couple of inches so the storm door handle would work properly.
I purchased a lock and door reinforcer plate. This is a u-shaped plate that saddles the door. It is perfect if someone needs to repair a broken or damaged doorknob area of a door. It allowed me to move my doorknob down and cover the old doorknob hole that was left behind. I cut a plug to go in the hole where the old doorknob was and calked it in place. Then I cut a new 2 1/8” hole for the new doorknob. Then installed the u-shaped plate over the old hole and lining it up with the new doorknob hole. I then screwed the reinforcer plate in place and installed the doorknob in the new hole. The doorknob has been moved down, but I still have some old strike plate hole in my door jamb.
“Using Bondo to repair my door frame”
So, to repair the old strike plate holes, I removed any strike plates that were in the way. I then cleaned the area of any dirt and/or debris, that might cause blemishes in the paint. I decided to use All-Purpose Bondo Putty because it dries as hard as wood. And it is resistant to shrinking or cracking. So, I mixed some Bondo Putty by placing about a tablespoon full on a disposable plastic lid. Then place about a pea-sized amount of hardener on top of the Bondo Putty. Be careful not to put too much hardener, the more hardener you use the faster it dries. Then I mixed the two together and applied a liberal coat on the damaged area that was to be patched. I also patched any other hole in the vicinity of where I would be painting. The took Bondo about an hour to dry.
After the Bondo Putty dried, I used my sander with 40 grit sandpaper to flatten the surface. Bondo is not so hard that you need an electric sander, you can easily sand it by hand. I applied a second thin coat of Bondo Putty to fill any imperfections and flatten the surface. Then let that dry for around 30 minutes. After the second coat dried, I used some 120-grit sandpaper on a block sender to shape the final patch. This is looking good, now all it needs is a coat of paint. I masked the trim off next to the area to be painted and painted the door jamb. It took the paint about 30 minutes to dry. After the paint dried, I re-attached the strike plates. Pretty simple and my door jamb looks almost new.