How should I cover accidentally made holes?!

When I did a dry fitting of my kegerator insides, everything seemed fine. But I forgot to check clearance with the beer lines attached to the shanks! :smack:

I drilled new holes higher up to clear my kegs, but now there are two holes I need to cover. The front is all black chalkboard paint, and I don't like stickers, really. I wanna keep it a bit classy. Any ideas? Maybe a small chrome plate would look cool?

Also, would stuffing the holes with newspaper and foil taping the inside be sufficient for insulation, or should I buy some foam or caulk or something?

I would do caulk. I think the newspaper would attract moisture a get moldy eventually. I'm not sure what the R value would be either.

If your chaulk board painting I think some dowels cut to the width of the collar that would take up the diameter of the hole, with wood glue and wood filler, then sanded and chalkboard painted would almost be unnoticeable.

I'm sure you can get 1" diameter dowels from Lowes or wherever.

sketchykg said:

If your chaulk board painting...

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Unfortunately I already painted it! Lesson learned, I suppose.

A picture might be helpful, but perhaps you can cover the holes with a hanging drip tray...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

A picture might be helpful, but perhaps you can cover the holes with a hanging drip tray...

Cheers!

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Thought about that, those are a bit out of budget for right now, and my fridge isn't flat on the front. I'm thinking I might have to go the sticker route, or if I can find a small (8" x 2") tin sign, that could look cool and I could bend it into shape. Trying to find one I like near that size is proving to be difficult, though.

Found something I liked, perfect size, but it's cast iron. Unless I cut out a chunk of the fridge it wont sit flush, and I'm afraid that using a rotary tool to cut that out would make too rough of an edge and look like crap.

Cut some cheap rigid plastic or thin wood and glue it to the backside of the holes. Then fill the front with bondo or similar material that is slightly flexible and won't shrink when drying. Sand flush and then paint to match. Boom, perfect fix. I would leave the plastic glued, but if you want to remove it after the bondo dries, then adhere it with caulk and after removal, add a patch on the back to keep it from pushing through.

Location? Through metal and insulation of a refrigerator? Of a wood collar. Patching could be very different. You could fill the holes with expansion foam sold in any hardware store. You could probably sand the outside smooth and paint it with the chalkboard paint.

YeastMode said:

Cut some cheap rigid plastic or thin wood and glue it to the backside of the holes. Then fill the front with bondo or similar material that is slightly flexible and won't shrink when drying. Sand flush and then paint to match. Boom, perfect fix. I would leave the plastic glued, but if you want to remove it after the bondo dries, then adhere it with caulk and after removal, add a patch on the back to keep it from pushing through.

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This might be the route I go if I don't find something soon. I already painted the front of the fridge with chalkboard paint. You think if I do this, and just paint around where the holes are it'll be too noticeable?

I think if you take your time and sand it down with some high grit sandpaper you won't notice it at all. If it was me, I would probably do the repair with some epoxy resin and Fiberglas combination but that is because usually have that stuff laying around. If I didn't, which is probably you, I would just buy a small tub of bondo at Home Depot or on amazon. I would sand it with around 120 and then finish with something around 220+. The trick is to overlay the hole and feather the edges. If you make it the same size of the hole it will just pop through. There definately is a technique to it, but if done right, you won't see it. Just take your time and sand slowly.

I second using Expanding foam. Brush over with something to smooth it out (Even watered down Elmer's Glue would work). Sand out smooth, repeat finishing and sanding until a smooth finish is achieved. Recover with chalkboard paint.

Fill the hole with expansion foam, and after it hardens dig a chunk out from the front and refill with drywall mud. Sand and paint over with the chalkboard paint... I was going to suggest this with a sticker over, but saw you weren't a fan.

Fill with foam in a can, wait for 24 hours to cure, sand down, cover with white duct tape ^_^

cannman said:

Fill with foam in a can, wait for 24 hours to cure, sand down, cover with white duct tape ^_^

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If you can't duct it, well... You know

Post a pic of it.
As mentioned, expanding foam, sand it down, ( make it a little lower than "flush"), wipe it with some Bondo, sand, and re paint.

You'll know while you are prepping it, if it's gonna' "look like hell", but you can do some amazing things with Bondo, to get an acceptable repair!