How to fill holes on a steel door . . . .

Well my sister bought a new house a month or so ago, told her I'd help her paint the place. Its actually a really nice house, built in 2008ish, the only real problem is the previous owners were messy and loved to hang shit on the walls. Lots of nail holes, hell in the first floor half bath while I was taking a piss I counted 9 nail holes lol.

Anyways, I know how to paint, fill holes, fix drywall, etc. The front door though is a contractor grade six panel steel skin door. There are several holes in it, on the front you can see where they had a brass knocker mounted, but now its gone. On the inside you can see where they had one of those stupid chain thingys but took it out, along with two more holes in the middle of the door on the inside for some dumb reason.

So how do you fill holes on a steel door???? Bondo and sand like a car body??? Wood filler??? I mean these holes are stupid big, like 1/8th to 3/16th in size.

I'd also like advice on how to paint this steel door. Never painted this type of surface, should I just paint the inside of the door with the white trim paint??? What should I use on the outside of the door?? Its under a covered porch behind a storm door, so no chance of it fading from the sun.

 

I have used Rustoleum Enamel on the the outside because of fading. As for the holes maybe some JB Weld, dab it in there. It will probably look like poo. I would get a new door because seeing the repair marks would drive me nuts.

 

All joking aside, yes, Bondo is not a bad idea, it's made for car panels, why not on a front door. Once it's painted it should be water resistant. Bondo is easy to sand and re-coat, I'd give it a try. You can also try fiberglass resin, use it the same as bondo, it's quite a bit tougher, but also a little tougher to sand.

 

Bondo, without question. It also works great to fill and rebuild wood trim. Paint the steel door with 4" foam smooth surface roller. And, do it when it's coolest. You'll get some stipple, but not unattractive.

 

I'm kind of leaning on my sister to do that, but you know, new house, lots of bills. Its a standard door opening though, so maybe we can pick up something from the Habitat restore or some place that resells for cheap. Thing is none of us are carpenters and know how to hang a door.

The really funny thing is I have a solid wood front door on my condo. Its built like a brick shit house, heavy ass solid wood door, six decorative panels of wood trim on the outside, smooth skin on the inside. Been thinking of replacing it with a door with glass lights because its kind of dark in the entryway.

 

Bondo would probably be your best bet. As far as painting the door we always spray with automotive paint last forever and always looks good.

 

Yup, Bondo and sold in the paint section of Lowes and or Home Depot and of course, automotive stores.

 

It's been years since I used Bondo but I don't believe it works well for holes. Similar to trying to fix a too large hole in drywall

JB Weld would probably be better.

 

I’ve bondo’d many holes and dents in residential and commercial metal doors and frames. Not really a big deal. The only thing is that you might need to make a dimple or small dent at the location of the hole. This allows the bonding patch to be feathered and finely sanded and lets you scratch the substrate for better adhesion. Plan on repainting the entire door surface.

 

This^^^^

 

The easiest way to make the small clean dimple is to place a ball pean hammer head centered on the hole and strike it with a mallet. You get a nice round dimple about this size of a nickel. (Depends on the hammer size, of course.)

 

The divot method @gosolo suggested is the right way to go. A small piece to drywall tape (the mesh type) or screen between the door and bondo will help keep the repair from popping out. Use a couple coats of primer over the bondo so it doesn't flash and look completely different from the rest of the painted door.
Use the foam roller as mentioned to paint and back brush with decent brush, This'll help hide the fact that it's a metal door. Start with the panels and brush out in the horizontal direction. Then do the stiles (horizontal pieces) and finish by painting the rails (vertical pieces)
That's my .02

 

For painting, whipe down with some mineral spirits, rubbing alcohol, or acetone (anything along those lines). A Direct To Metal (DTM) paint from lowes or home depot is what i would reccomend if you are gonna have to go to the store. Though, if the door is cleaned well and primed, you can use pretty much anything. I have latex painted doors going on 10 plus years and still going strong.

If you go latex, for and extra $8 you can get some floetrol paint additive that will help smooth out brush strokes.

Edit:
Hanging doors correctly, be it a slab or prehung, is simple in theory, but a nightmare in reality if its something that has to be done and working before you can go home.

And the way you determine the swing of a door (left or right) is by standing on the outside of the room or entrance, with your back to the door. Which ever arm is on the hinge side, that is the swing.

 

Maybe install another door knocket and chain latch to cover the holes?

 

Ramen, the noodle soup..
https://www.barstoolsports.com/chicks/life-hack-cram-all-your-holes-with-ramen

 

If it were that simple, I wouldn't be asking for advice lol. There was one of those brass door knockers on the outside that they took off, left the holes, plus a couple other random holes. Previous owners had some sort of obsession with drilling holes in the damn walls, took a piss in the downstairs half bath and counted 9 nail holes just standing there taking a piss lol.

With all the labor of putting a bigger dent in(makes sense, cause these are screw holes and have a bit of a burr on the hole), filling with bondo, sanding, priming, painting, I'm going to tell her to spend the $$$$ to buy a new door and have it installed. Heck you can buy some really nice wood doors from salvage places and have somebody install it, maybe save a few $$$$ and have a unique looking door.

 

I’d just use the right size screw & paint over it. Most people won’t even notice it.