Repairs to door jamb

I have a steel entry door with 2 sidelights installed in 1991. I know the jambs are 1 piece molded wood. The wind caught my storm door and ripped out the upper and lower piston brackets from the jamb, taking out a nice chunk of jamb wood with it. I was thinking a putting a 1/8" aluminum plate over the damaged wood and securing it with galvanized stove bolts & nuts through the jamb from the outside then securing the storm door brackets through this plate, again having to use thinner bolts & nuts instead of screws.

Has anyone tried this type of repair or is there an alternative without having to remove and replace the jamb?

Thanks for any and all help.
Tony

 

You can use automotive Bondo to repair the tear-outs. Remove any loose wood fiber and fill to just proud of the existing jamb/trim surfaces. Once it's set up you can sand it flush, prime and paint and then re-drill the holes for your brackets and springs.

 

Thanks for the tip. I still have some of the Minwax repair kit I used to fill knotholes in my cedar deck planks. I know it is the same as Bondo but that was after I started using the stuff.

What I need to do is reinforce the jamb without taking the door frame apart because if the door gets caught by the wind again, the screws will pull right out. Since the jamb frame is exposed on the outside as it is the frame for the sidelights, I was thinking of installing a thin steel plate inside and using bolts and nuts to secure it, then using thinner nuts and bolts for the piston brackets. After that I will also install the hurricane chain used for storm doors. If the door gets ripped out again, a lot more frame will come with it.

Sound logical to you????

Thanks,
Tony