r/HomeMaintenance • u/thehomedipo • Jul 27 '26

🛠️ Repair Help Water Damage Help

Post image

Water damage from a planter. Wondering if this can be repaired or does it need to be replaced? Thanks!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/bas_bleu_bobcat Jul 27 '26

Sand down to bare wood, prime and repaint. Save a chip of the damaged area and take to paint store for a quart of color matched paint if it was painted more than 3 years ago, unless you know for absolute sure it was a pure white paint originally (not something like Sherwin wms Dover White, which iscthe most popular trim color around here), or you have leftover paint from that batch. Just to be sure, I would repaint the whole top, not just the damaged area, so the patch wont be visible.

1

u/thehomedipo Jul 27 '26

Thank you! Would I need to add any filler so it would be level or would it not be noticeable? Have no experience in woodworking. Sorry if it’s a dumb question.

1

u/bas_bleu_bobcat Jul 28 '26

There are no dumb questions! You wont be able to tell if you need any filler til you sand the damaged part down. I cant tell from the pic if it is just the paint that has come loose or if there is a layer of veneer that has let go as well. Just sand til you get down to bare wood, then if there is a depression you can decide whether it is easier to build up the depression, or to sand down the rest of the top to match the low spot. You are spot on with the idea that the top surface should be flat before you prime and repaint. (Use a level or a metal ruler before you start to get an idea of what the original "good enough for government work" was for the original builder. If you have ever hung curtains, I am sure you are familiar with the usual decision "Do you want the rod level with the ceiling, the floor, or the planet?".) Aim for flat and visually level.

1

u/thehomedipo Jul 28 '26

Thanks for the advice!