# Best patch material for quarter-size hole in soffit? Ready Patch or Bondo?



## Studly (Feb 27, 2009)

I have a quarter-sized hole in a soffit board after it slightly rotted (fixed the source of that) and then mice climbed the chimney brick and chewed the hole in the wood soffit board in the rotted portion. 

I don't want to replace the board (it's not real visible and would be a lot of work high up), so what is the best patch material I can use to plug the hole? Was thinking either Ready Patch or Bondo putty, but will one stay in place better on the underside of the soffit? Will one last longer than the other? 

And I've heard others say that bondo often cracks or separates in the cold weather because it doesn't expand and contract like the wood that it's going into. I'm in frigid Minnesota, so if that's the case, I'd probably use Ready Patch.

Also, is a backing necessary on a hole that size, or can I put a few coats of the patch material on the sides of the hole and close it up? If you recommend a backing, what is the best thing to use so it fits in a hole that small?

Any advice is appreciated!


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Any patching material is subject to crack or come loose with temperature and humidity changes. If you went with a patching compound you'd need some sort of backer. Building it up around the edges is just asking for it to fail sooner rather than later.


Is it feasible to cut a wood plug of some sort to fill the hole and then just caulk or fill the joint?


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

If it is mostly out of sight. Paint one of these and screw it up there.


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## Studly (Feb 27, 2009)

Nealtw said:


> If it is mostly out of sight. Paint one of these and screw it up there.



Thanks for the idea! Is that an electrical box cover? Metal or plastic ... which holds paint better?


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## Studly (Feb 27, 2009)

mark sr said:


> Any patching material is subject to crack or come loose with temperature and humidity changes. If you went with a patching compound you'd need some sort of backer. Building it up around the edges is just asking for it to fail sooner rather than later.
> 
> 
> Is it feasible to cut a wood plug of some sort to fill the hole and then just caulk or fill the joint?



Good idea, but it's very high up and the ladder would be on uneven, sloping ground, so the easier the patch the better. I have a ladder leveler but still don't want to spend a lot of time up there working on it.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

That is a metal junction box cover and you can get rounds that are white painted already


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