Expand / Collapse search
☰

Repairing your dog-damaged furniture with Jill of All Trades

By FOX 2 Staff
Published  December 14, 2018 10:20am EST
FOX 2 Detroit

(FOX 2) - This week, our Jill of All Trades, Jill Washburn, shows us how she repaired a piece of furniture that had "dog damage." And, she used Play-Doh to do it. (Seriously??? Yes, for reals!)

The damage? A gnawed corner caused by a bored Yorkie with a penchant for chewing. The solution? Make a casting of an intact corner to get the proper shape for the repair. 

To do this, Jill took some Play-Doh and pressed it all around the good corner and let it dry for about 3 days. Jill cautions not to let it sit longer than that or it will shrink too much. 

Once it was dry, she had a form for the corner shape she needed.  

Next, Jill drilled a couple of holes into the damaged corner, so that the wood filler would have a little something extra to "grab' onto. 

Then, she mixed up her filler, which is Durham's Water Putty powder, mixed with some water and a little Elmer's glue. The ideal mix has a paste-like consistency. 

Jill applied the filler to the damaged corner, making sure it was pressed into the newly-drilled holes, and then built up the corner and then some. Then, she took her mold and coated the inside with olive oil. (You could also use clear wax). This kept the mold from sticking to the new repair.

Once coated, Jill pressed the mold onto the build-up of filler, using it to form the original shape of the corner. Once that was dry, she gently pulled off the mold, revealing the new corner.  

Jill says that the mold will get you to about 90 percent of the shape that you'll need. After that, it's just sanding and/or touch-up that will get you close to perfection. Once the shape is right, you can touch up the paint and your repair should look like new.

You can watch Jill walk you through the repair process by clicking on the video player above.

PROJECT RATING:  Medium (But it looks scarier than it actually is)

If you have a project that you'd like to see Jill of All Trades tackle, email Jill at jill.washburn@foxtv.com, or message @TVJill on Facebook. Use #JOAT.