Bondo or Famowood?

Jeff

New User
Jeff
I have some squirrel chewing damage to repair on an exterior door frame. This is one of 2 areas that are not too deep and I'm tempted to simply prime and paint them. The other thought is to use a sandable wood filler like Bondo or Famowood but that may be more difficult than necessary. It's stands out now but I think that after painting it'll be much less visible. What say you all?

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junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
Bondo would be my choice, right after lead oxide. To apply the lead oxid, you need a 22 cal rifle, or Benjaman pump up pellet gun. For the Bondo, I would use a form to hold it in place. Because you are woodworker, you could take router and cut a rabbet along edge and glue in a "Dutchman." Sand smooth, and paint. Remember, caulk, putty, and paint, makes a carpenter what he ain't!
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Agree with Bruce, I would use bondo. Get some of the thin double stick tape to create a frame around it and the apply a little proud of the finish elevation and then put parchment paper over it then use a flat thin piece of ply or equal and stick to the double stick tape frame you put around it. Wait 20-30 min until it sets then remove the cover and finish. I usually put a some bondo of similar thickness on a piece of wood so I know when it is getting hard to gauge when top remove your form. Also might want to zip prime the wood first, I found bondo sticks better that way. If you get it when it is just setting you can usually cut it with a sharpened taping blade to near perfect level reducing the sanding.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
If you use Bondo then drilling some 1/4 inch holes 1/2 inch deep will help it hold to the wood.
Bondo always requires a second and sometimes a third coat to even things out and fill voids.
Then some grinding and sanding, it's just a mess i don't enjoy. Then the texture always looks odd next to the wood.

But, in this case I think it would be much easier to cut away the bad wood and glue a new piece in its place.
Then putty, prime, and paint.
 

Raymond

Raymond
Staff member
Corporate Member
I had a small herd of those pesky critters behind my house all summer; not any more, thanks to the Red-tail Hawks that have settled in the 17 acre wooded parcel adjacent to my backyard. I love catching those hawks in action -doing a swooping catch and carry - nature at its finest!

Anyway, I digress. I agree with Bruce too.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
My house painter is coming tomorrow to look at it. He's not new to this stuff and has been in business for 30 years. I'll see what his advice is.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Funny thing, in Hawaii we do not have Squirrels only mice, rats and mongoose. The biggest land predator In in North Carolina Would be the Black bear.
In Hawaii it is the domestic cat, all 9 lbs of it :D
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
PCP + bondo. PCP=precharged pneumatic (air rifle). I got one tree rat with a pump up carbine but they are apparently scared of my PCP. The one I got was chewing on the gutters. If you don't think a squirrel is a rat clean one. With the fur off, they are clearly a rat.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Well to be scientific, squirrels are part of the family Rodentia, therefore they are nothing more than a rat with a furry tail
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
How did we digress to rats and squirrels. I asked a simple question and have gotten a lot of off the wall comments about rats and squirrels.
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
If you don't get rid of the squirrels first, there is no use in fixing damage. As Arnold said "I'll be back!"
 

redknife

Chris
Corporate Member
Bondo wood filler would fill that nicely in my experience. Their wood filler product, available at Lowe’s, sets fairly quickly so mix and move quickly. I agree with Mike about adding some anchor points. I find WoodEpox better to work with but it is more expensive. For complex shaped restoration I choose WoodEpox whereas simple patches I use Bondo.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
If you don't get rid of the squirrels first, there is no use in fixing damage. As Arnold said "I'll be back!"

We never had any squirrel damage until we put a bird feeder on that door frame. The feeder has now been removed. We live in a wooded area in the country and trying to get rid of squirrels is pointless.
 

RandyJ

New User
Randy
I used Bondo a few times but didn't master it. Seemed too difficult to work with, especially shaping/sanding. I discovered Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty and never looked back. Available lots of places, even Ace hardware. Easy to apply and easy to shape and sand. YMMV
 

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xfenry

New User
xfenry
Wow, really great job. It looks like the work of a professional for a few hundred dollars, I wouldn't be able to do something like that. But I'm interested in how you handled the rodent problem on your property. They didn't come back and try to ruin anything anymore, did they? I had a similar situation, some squirrels completely destroyed all my garden furniture. I managed to repair some of the furniture, but the squirrels kept coming back. The only people who could help me were employees of a squirrel removal services they installed protection against squirrels. They secured my house, and I was able to redesign my property.
 
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