FunHouse
Williams, 1990I am doing a refurb of a Funhouse, including a nice restoration of the cabinet. Something went through the bottom of the cabinet at some point during it’s life. What would people suggest I use to patch these rather big holes? Bondo doesn’t seem like the right choice, does it?
1578ECED-FDF2-452F-8163-CEF31904AC48 (resized).jpeg81746367-6C66-46F1-A69B-F5433CC9CA7F (resized).jpegBest answer is replace the bottom. It's not as bad as it seems, and at the end of the day looks fantastic.
To do it right... replace the bottom. What would I do lacking the patience to do that? I'd tape something smooth and flat against the bottom of the hole, then pour wood filler or wood glue on top and smooth the top with a putty knife. After that I'd try and color match it with furniture touch up stuff or rub walnut shells over it until the grain and color looked right.
After looking it up... I wasn't too far off. Try this: https://www.wikihow.com/Fill-Large-Holes-in-Wood
I wouldn’t replace the bottom just to patch that hole unless I had the whole cabinet empty for another reason.
If your goal is simply to plug the hole a piece of duct tape will do. I think SantaEatsCheese ’s method is a good compromise between those two extremes. Gluing a piece of paneling is another option.
It looks like a lot of the missing material is sitting in the corner. You can use an acid brush and wood glue to put a lot of that back in place. Remember though, pressboard swells with moisture. That’s why everyone says replace. By the time you get it patched, sanded, smoothed, and painted or stained, it is about the same work to just replace it
Cut a piece of luan 1/8 or 1/4 plywood the size of the bottom and glue it. Covers the whole bottom, looks good (even though nobody will see it).
I am now leaning towards replacing it. How hard will it be to remove? I assume it is only glued in? I don’t want to cause more damage just trying to get it out either.....
If your goal is just to get it to look a lot better with minimal cost and effort - why not just clean up the holes and put small vent/grate covers in or over them? May not be everyone's choice - but reminds me of when someone slipped in my attic and partially fell through my ceiling. Several $1k plus estimates later, I ended up just making the hole into an attic vent for a small fraction of that price and about an hour's effort.
The bottom is in a groove all the way around the cabinet. The sides and bottom are assembled and locked together. You can route out the wood beneath the groove, roughly 3/8" by 3/8" and then the bottom falls right out. But then you have to replace the wood you removed with 3/8" square strips all the way around. Then fill up the leftover seam with bondo, sand and paint.
Not terrible, but not fun.
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Mount Pleasant, SC
Ottawa, ON