How To Repair Rotted Wood Without Replacing It

Thank you to DAP for sponsoring this wood rot repair project! All opinions are entirely my own. This post also contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t recommend wholeheartedly. Read my full disclosure here.

We have a problem. Or I should say, had a problem.

There was one board of wood on the exterior of our home where paint was peeling and the wood was starting to rot.

The real issue here is the run off from the roof at this specific spot and it falls directly on this spot. Someday we’ll need to probably remove this little wall and replace it with a fence or something.

But today is not that day. And in the meantime, we need to repair the rotted wood to prevent the damage from getting worse.

DAP Plastic Wood Rot Repair Kit

When our friends at DAP told us about this new product, I knew that this would be just the thing to help get that rotted wood repaired and get the front of our home looking a little better!

The wood rot repair kit is a 2-step process with a wood hardener applied to the area first to seal and reinforce the soft wood fibers so you have a nice strong base. Next, you add an epoxy wood filler that can be built up and is moldable, shapeable, and paintable.

Where can you use it?

There are so many different things you can just this kit on – just about any place where you need to repair rotted wood!

• Interior OR exterior
• Window frames
• Door jamb frames
• Wood siding
• Wood beams (not structural)
• Wood bathroom floors
• Bottom of wood sheds
• Decks

How To Repair Rotted Wood: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1. Remove loose material and clean the surface

Before starting anything with the wood rot products, you must prep the surface where the wood is rotting. If there is any paint that is peeling or chipping, as in our case, it needs to be removed. Use a chisel, putty knife, and/or sanding block to do this.

After peeling paint or any other debris or loose material, wipe the area clean with a broom.

Step 2. Apply Plastic Wood hardener

Open the can of Plastic Wood hardener and apply it to the entire surface of the rotted wood that needs to be repaired using a paintbrush, moving in the same direction as the grain of the wood.

We opted for a cheap chip brush that we could toss when we were finished, but the wood hardener will wash off with soap and water.

Let the hardener dry for 2-4 hours before moving on.

Step 3. Prepare epoxy filler

Now it is time to get the epoxy filler ready to use. Take the cap off and screw the self-mixing nozzle on to it. Next, load the tube into a caulking gun.

Gently squeeze the trigger of the caulk gun and add some to a piece of scrap until you can see it is coming out of the tube in a uniform color. That’s when you know the two parts of the epoxy have been mixed. It should be a natural tan-like color.

Step 4. Apply epoxy filler and spread

The next step is to add the epoxy filler over the rotted wood and then use a putty knife to spread it out evenly. If you need to shape it to match the original shape of the wood, you can do that because the product is very shapeable.

Feel free to take your time if needed while shaping it. It is workable for about 20 minutes.

It will be dry and tack-free in about 3 hours, but won’t be fully cured until 24 hours. We recommend waiting the full 24 hours until it is cured before moving on.

Step 5. Sand

Once it is cured, you can smooth the epoxy using an orbital sander. It should be flush with the surrounding surface.

Step 6. Paint (optional)

In some instances of repairing rotted wood, it is not visible, so you don’t need to worry about painting the area.

However, we definitely needed to paint the area because it is literally on the front of our house! We used white exterior paint and did two coats.

SO much better, right?

This worked great to repair the damage and wood rot on this board and got our curb appeal looking a lot better. It would also work really well to repair any damage on door frames or around windows.

What problem areas can you fix around your home this week?