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How can I repair rotted wood in vinyl clad door?

10 years ago

I have 1987 Anderson vinyl clad sliding doors. On side has evidently rotted from below due to water infiltration (I also see small ants.) The doors are still perfectly operable and I am not ready to change it as there are five that match. So how can I repair it? Do I need to cut into the vinyl and fill with some kind of composite wood filler? Thanks for any advice.

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Comments (5)

mike_kaiser_gw
10 years ago
You can get new parts from Andersen. I'm in the process of replacing a jamb. I also ordered the appropriate weatherstrip for the jamb and the two pieces for the operating door (where it meets the fixed panel). The bill was about $200.

I have an extra new left side (when viewed from the outside) operating jamb in terratone (which is color I think you have). If it's something you can use, we could work out deal.
kitasei
Original Author
10 years ago
Replacing the jamb would be my last resort since it means disassembling the frame and reinstalling, no? I'm hoping for a quick and cheap fix.
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Sure it can be repaired! But it would have to be either painted over, or do some sort of faux wood color in that corner over the wood fill (if its at bottom or top, who's going to notice.) you can use the epoxy wood fill to fill in gaps and even build out the corner (sanding it flat on all sides.) If you are an artist and can do detailed work, you wont be able to tell its wood fill and its not going to look "rustic" - itll look great! If you are Not an artist - then it might not look so good! Dont use Minwax or any big box wood fills or hardeners - it is not durable and really is an inferior product compared to the Abatron. I used Abatron on a number of exterior repairs - sills, even rebuilt a window sash and all have lasted quite well thru rain, sleet, snow, 100 degree days.. No, I dont work for them!!! Used in historic renovations everywhere, interior exterior. More expensive than big box products but worth it in terms of durability and still more cost effective than buying new. The really soft, crumbling wood has to be removed but if its just soft and spongy but still intact - that can be hardened quite nicely.
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No the rot did not show up over night. I condensed things but here is a more detailed version. I began to notice the paint on some of my window sashes was kinda chipping I live in the south the sun is strong here so sometimes it dries paint out. I didn't want to scrape all the interior frames so just dusted them and decided to wait till more paint started chipping. It is not every window in the house some are right next to each other 3 are rotting other 2 are fine. The house exterior has been caulked and painted twice since we have been in the house and we checked around the windows and doors periodically. The windows that are under my front porch are absloutly in pristine condition but the rain doesn't come in under our porch. A recommended installer put in the windows. When I began to notice the wood was looking wet in the house I began to try to get Pella to work with me. That was roughly 6 years ago. They are not very expeditious in their customer support Once I was able to get someone out to evaluate the windows. The rep did agree the water is seeping in from the aluminum exterior clad window outside to the inside sash causing water damage. So it took over a year from time I tried to get Pella to do something to getting a rep out. Then another few weeks to get an estimate how much it would cost to fix. Then southeast rep was supposed to see about getting some sort of discount for having to replace. Well no speed there so time ticks by all in all I have been dealing with this for over 5 years now. Windows should not fail before house is paid for I had a 30 yr mortgage paid it in 24 years windows started rotting before that. Get it if windows become less energy efficient, get it if wood windows on exterior rot or need to be replaced but aluminum on the exterior??? Something is not sealed properly around the glass and the frame for water to be coming in on the sash not the side of the window frame. I should not have to replace an aluminum window frame and there are 100 year old houses where windows were not very well maintained and the windows are not rotting in the house.
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User
10 years ago
The quick and cheap fix is invariably the wrong fix for just about any situation. It's always harder to do the right thing, but it still remains the right thing to do.
kitasei
Original Author
10 years ago
Don't be so dismissive of cheap and easy! There are many times when it makes time to arrest a problem (in this case, the water infiltration and spreading rot), insure basic structural integrity (replacing the rot with a material strong enough to support the frame and whatever other function it does), and let go of the rest. A homeowner facing multiple costly issues can't go to the mat with every one. The "right" thing to do would obviously be to replace the door, which in the end would be 4-5000. But it couldn't match the other four - which I don't like anyway. Until I'm ready to replace all of them, I just want to buy time with this one. The question is, do I cut the vinyl as if it were wood and replace the section with wood? Or do I inject foam, concrete, or stuff wood filler inside the vinyl, teasing it back to its original shape like a car dent? Should I just cover it with a piece of metal? Or is replacing the jamb (if Andersen even stocks it for this door) less of an ordeal than I think? Thanks for any positive advice to address this so I can focus on bigger problems -- leaking roof, broken drains, and saturated slab :)
rwiegand
10 years ago
Swapping out a door like this can be done in a couple hours-- I think that is actually the cheap and easy solution in this case. I messed around with various epoxy fillers, making dutchmen, etc for months before seeing the light. I had the same problem, and it turned out that Andersen replaced the doors for free even though they were long out of warranty, apparently a known defect. (I read them the numbers off the door, they said we'll send you new doors, no other questions asked) I swapped three new doors in in a day, including repainting the trim. Assuming the prep work was done right the first time around putting an exact replacement in is pretty straightforward, though it would have been faster and easier with two people.

I wasted a lot more time than that in trying to patch the problem.

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