# Self Adhesive Patches for Damaged Wood Surfaces.



## Hobbyfan

Something heavy fell from a cupboard and punched a small hole in the table of my 'van. I'm not getting to exercised about it as we can always put a cover over the table, but it would be nice if it could be repaired in some way.

I've just taken it down to my friend the expert joiner, who thinks that it will be an extremely difficult job to replace and match the colour etc.

The problem of course is that the tops are thin to minimise weight and are hollow underneath so are susceptible to having holes made in them.

I remember reading something on the other forum, you know, the one that said "We will never charge." and is now twelve quid.

There was talk of a bloke who attends shows and, given a sample and using the miracle of digital imaging, will make you a self-adhesive patch, say an inch or so in diameter. You fill the hole, smooth it off and apply the patch, which is the same colour and the hole is then disguised.

Does anyone know of this firm and even more important, does anyone have any knowledge of the efficacy of the patches?

Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help.


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## Glandwr

One possible solution Hobbyfan would be to "skin" the whole table top with something like formica. you joiner chap should do it easliy. (it would also be tougher for future "downfalls".

Dick


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## Hobbyfan

Glandwr said:


> One possible solution Hobbyfan would be to "skin" the whole table top with something like formica. you joiner chap should do it easliy. (it would also be tougher for future "downfalls".
> 
> Dick


Regrettably he doesn't consider that a good option owing to the complex curves and matching the exact colour would be a bit of a problem. Thanks anyway.


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## inkey-2008

I used car body filler then fine sand it down. We had cream coloured tops and it blended in. If you could colour the mix to match the top.

Andy


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## Pudsey_Bear

I'd go to "proper" carpenter, and take him the top, all it needs is for the existing "Formica" style top to be taken out using a router and a near as poss replacement dropped in and stuck with contact adhesive.

He'll make a template of the existing top before removing it, and the new one should fit perfectly.

Surely there's an outfit out there doing this sort of repair, if not there's a niche market for someone who can do it well and at the right price.

Of course it'd be smart to cover it before it gets damaged, I wish I'd done so with ours


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## p-c

Hi

Sorry to hear about the damage, it is something that I dread happening to us.

A repair will always depend on the size of the hole. If the original surface is still there but depressed then hard wax crayons may be the answer. You can buy them sold as furniture repair crayons or I have used those from craft/art/toy shops for small repairs in the past.

This is a repair used within the furniture industry. You can mix colours add an impression of graining, use a colour pen to add more definite lines. Use heat, friction, to smooth it out and may be a LITTLE heat to melt/blend it at the start, body heat rolling it in your hand perhaps. It may take a bit of practice but can be very effective. If you make a mistake dig it out of the hole carefully and start again. The repair is not very heat resistant.

All the best

p-c


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## Glandwr

Here's a novel idea a Compass , have to make sure you get one with a flat bezel though.

Dick


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## relay

When it happened to us (twice  ) the laminate was still there, just sort of cracked and pushed in. I covered it with the clear waterproof tape you can use for sealing cracked glass in greenhouses. It was invisible unless you were looking for it, waterproof and lasted months before it needed replacing. It wouldn't work if the pieces have come right out, though.
The patches sound a good idea - Thinking about those... how about if you took a photo of the table top in good light, printed it on thin paper and stuck it to a piece of "my" see-through tape? Perhaps I'm getting into the realms of fantasy now  
Good luck, anyway 

-H


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## stephenpug

what i always do if i make a cockup decorating etc is to make a feature of it as if it was meant so what i would do is get a trivet large enough to cover the damaged area and cut a hole out of the formica down to the wood and glue the trivet in to it then you have got rid of the damage and also got somewhere to put your hot pans problem solved


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## murtle

I use waxes and other metarials to repair furniture and wood flooring aswell as other materials that repair pvcu window frames etc, (incl the foil wood effect jobbies)

repairing the table will be a difficult job, and if given to a profesional would probably out weigh the cost of a new table, same as getting a carpenter to relay with formica etc,

you cold fill the hole with low expand foam and then dare I say it, fablon it  , or you could just buy another table from the likes of magnum, motorhomes, when i last viited they ahd some very nice ones different styles and wood effects from about £20.00 upto 59.00.

al


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## stephenpug

stephenpug said:


> what i always do if i make a cockup decorating etc is to make a feature of it as if it was meant so what i would do is get a trivet large enough to cover the damaged area and cut a hole out of the formica down to the wood and glue the trivet in to it then you have got rid of the damage and also got somewhere to put your hot pans problem solved


Sorry didnt read it properly i thought it was the kitchen work surface


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## Bubblehead

Hi 

When this happened to us in our old van I thought about drilling a small hole in the underside of the table and using a tool to push the damaged are back into place whilst holding a block of wood over the top to avoid pushing it right through. 

Once in place I was going to fill the internal void with spray foam to fix it in place. 

I can understand why the tables are hollow but why not fill them with expanding foam rather than the egg box stuff. 

I must say I never did this as impulse buying resulted in a new van before I got the time to do the repair. 

Andy


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## Happycampers

Hi Iv'e found that this site is quite handy for the odd repair kits

http://www.repairproducts.co.uk/index.htm

Nigel


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## spartacus

Not knowing how complex the shape of your table is but why not get your joiner friend to make you a new replacement top, probably much easier and cheaper than him trying to do a complicated repair.

You transfer all the fixings over from the damaged one and even if it's not an exact match it won't matter in the way an obvious repair would.


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## Hobbyfan

spartacus said:


> Not knowing how complex the shape of your table is but why not get your joiner friend to make you a new replacement top, probably much easier and cheaper than him trying to do a complicated repair.


It's not that easy and the labour costs would probably be more than a new table. It's a complex affair with a hinge-out under-table and as I said earlier, I'm not losing sleep about it but if it could be done simply I'll do it, other wise it can stay!


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## spartacus

Ah yes, I see now - a picture speaks a thousand words!

I have a friend with a joinery business too who has done similar stuff for me. He would probably remove the original lacquer, fill the damage and then re-spray the two tops so you end up with as near as makes no difference to original.

He's done similar stuff for me on a commercial basis but, knowing the costs involved, I can't see it being more than fifty quid at "mates rates". Could your joiner mate not do similar??


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## Mark993

Following on from the "wax crayon" post above, I've just been talking to the people who built our van about a similar problem I have:

Damaged the edge of one of the overhead doors when a bungee I was pulling too tight around a box slipped from my hand and hit the door like a bullet.

They said they use a "hot wax repair" for this type of job (and would do it for me if I lived a bit closer and could take the van there). But they say Yellow pages will lead me to a furniture repairer who will know what "hot wax repair" means and do it for a lot less than buying a new door.

Apparently it can be blended to right shade with grain in right direction. Will report back when I've had it done.


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