Wood garage door panel material?

[Raisedonadeere]

Wife backed car into garage door and two panels are busted. This door is a wood door with rails and stiles machined with a groove to hold a 1/4" thick panel, 24" x18". Door is in good shape. I have seen many of these doors rot out and the panels look like some kind of fiber board. I do not want to replace the doors, they are somewhat protected from the weather and only occasionally get wet and so need infrequent painting. In other words they look and work just fine. Just need to replace the two panels.

Looking in Home Depot and Lowes I could only find hard board rated for interior use only. I bought a piece or 1/4" MDF to fill the hole for now but I wonder if there is some ideal board for replacing these panels.

Hoping some of you could tell me if that is typically just interior board protected by good paint and caulk.

 

[firebirdparts]

They are definitely MDF (Or I thought maybe HDF rather than MDF), but I don't know if there is an exterior grade. It's been a long time since I saw a door made like that. they used to be common. When I bought my house it had two on it.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Have you looked at MDO like the sign guys use? Maybe fiber glass and foam panels like boat builders or airplane guys?

 

[metlmunchr]

You need oil tempered hardboard. It has the best water resistance and will paint better than any of the other hardboards. After the basic board is manufactured, it is coated with linseed oil and then baked to cure the oil.

A lot of houses built in the 50's and 60's used tempered hardboard siding, often in combination with brick veneer. If the siding has been maintained in a half decent manner, it will still be rock solid after 50+ years.

You're generally better off buying stuff like this from an independent building supply company rather than any of the chain boxes. Much more chance of dealing with someone who knows what you're asking for and more likely to either have it in stock or can direct you to someone local who does stock it.

 

[BillK]

RD,
The original door on my house was like that. I am pretty sure it was just cheap MDF. Once painted it would probably last forever.

You might want to check with a local garage door company and see if they are replacing any old doors locally. They usually take them to the landfill and would probably gladly give you a couple of sections to take the panels out of.

 

[gungatim]

I crashed my bicycle in to our wood garage door as a kid. the handyman fixed it with a piece of Masonite. it held up for decades and was identical to what I busted through. later we replaced the windows with Masonite as well when one got a rock through it from a tennis racket (me again...). so just use tempered hardboard and paint it to match with good exterior paint and you'll be good to go.

 

[gnpenning]

Luan plywood is another option, it's what we use today. Might be easier to find and holds up very well.

 

[Brno8x57]

I fixed my door 10 years ago. I used homedepot plywood and painted it with oil exterior paint and primer. It’s still there and looks the same as the rest of the door. Good luck

 

[Chaz]

The Masonite will hold up best.

 

[Raisedonadeere]

Thank for all the comments. Every post was helpful. This was my first post. I stumbled into this forum a few months ago and I have been impressed with quality of the conversation. Even when someone steps on some toe the conversation stays civil with what appears to be deliberate effort to side step the entrapment into flaming.

On top of that, the amount of good information has been astonishing in its coming forth consistently from topic to topic. Even some of the foolishness is enlightening even if it is boring.

The info on the panel material brought back a flood of recollections about how to do what I need to do at the moment.

Don't know if I will ever do it but I just might, that is, I have for past few years wanted to build and live in a "barnominium" I built a house back in 1973 and since then have fiddled with various remodling projects, DIY AC and heat, electrical etc. There is hardly a subject that comes up here that I don't identify with except building a palace for expensive cars. Those just point out to me where I would have wound up if I had been more well heeled financially

Congratulations to all of you on having access to such a helpful site respectful site.

 

[Jon_E]

You used 1/4" MDF as a temp fix, so just prime with a good oil-based exterior primer and a couple coats of paint, and that will last for years. Your temporary fix can be your permanent fix.