How to decorate a hole in a fiberboard door. Repairing wooden doors with your own hands: tips and instructions. How to remove scratches

Anyone can repair interior doors. To do this, you just need to arm yourself with tools and knowledge. You can repair any doors made of MDF, fiberboard and chipboard (veneered and laminated), natural wood. You can carry out many manipulations with them: seal them with putty, apply a patch, trim them, sand them and tint them.

Causes of problems

Mechanical damage occurs due to careless operation or installation:

  • scratches and dents are a common occurrence in families with small children;
  • moving or falling objects sometimes cause holes in fiberboard doors.

Due to improper installation, they encounter the following difficulties:

  • skew;
  • poor connection;
  • friction.

Wood is hygroscopic - it easily absorbs moisture and releases it. In this regard, violation of production technology and operating conditions leads to the following unpleasant consequences:

Correction of mechanical damage

To repair minor damage to an interior door with your own hands, we will need:

  • putty or wax pencil;
  • a piece of felt.

Minor scratches and dents almost always occur after a short period of use. They are covered with a special wax pencil, which can be easily purchased on the market. building materials. The color of the pencil should match the shade of the doors. The sealing area is rubbed with a piece of felt.

How to repair dents and chips on wooden interior doors

For filling dents on wooden products, we suggest the following: use a chisel to hollow out a piece of wood exactly corresponding to the size of the dent and, coated with glue, apply it to the recess. The connection point is pressed with a clamp if the damage is on the edge. If the patch is in the middle door leaf- it must be placed on a flat surface, covered with a board of a suitable size and pressed with a heavy object. The protruding areas of the patch are cleaned with a chisel and sanded with coarse and then fine sandpaper. Paint over suitable paint, open with varnish.

Do-it-yourself interior chipboard door repair

To repair damage to the surface of veneered chipboard, use veneer selected by color and texture. You need to remove the damaged piece with a chisel and glue a new one. It is easier to repair a defect if the veneer is cut tangentially (wavy, twisted structure), then the repair is not very noticeable. With a radial cut (straight, parallel lines) it is more difficult to correct, since it is difficult to match the pattern. Clamp the gluing area similarly to the example above.

Restoring holes in fiberboard doors

Broken fiberboard doors can be repaired with your own hands by inserting products from below ventilation grille. If the hole has formed at the top, then make an inlay from a similar material, glass, etc. Cut a symmetrical hole, the ends of which are covered wooden blocks to close the void. Insert a pre-prepared panel made of wood or MDF (available for sale), lay the insert and fix it with another panel on the reverse side, hammering it in with pins.

We correct shortcomings caused by incorrect installation

  1. If the door does not open well or friction occurs, the excess is removed from the edge with a plane, sanded, painted and varnished. The gap between the frame and the doors should be no more than 1.5 - 2 mm.
  2. If the door springs back when closing, it may be because it is resting against a quarter of the frame. In this case, the door leaf or frame will be trimmed. The problem may also lie in the installation of hinges on the door.
  3. Door sag can be repaired by placing washers on the top and bottom door hinge pins.

We eliminate manufacturing defects with our own hands

  1. Unstuck doors are mainly the result of unscrupulous manufacturing and to resolve the situation, contact the manufacturer. But, if it turns out to be dishonest, you will have to repair it yourself. In this case, you need to disassemble the product into parts, sand the entire coating down to bare wood, and clean off any remaining glue at the joints. After coating the joints with glue, connect the parts one by one, clamping them with clamps. The doors are then repainted and varnished.
  2. If the doors are made of damp material, they subsequently dry out in a dry room and gaps form; the door does not fit tightly to the frame or does not close at all. In this case, a strip of the required size is glued to the edge, then aligned to the size of the door leaf, sanded and coated with the necessary paint and varnish products.

The interior door is not the last element of the interior. Not only the color, design, and material of the door are important, but also the quality of installation. Proper installation and installation is half the success.

When installing a door, various situations arise: incorrect calculation of parameters, installation difficulties, force majeure situations. As a result, the outcome may not be as rosy as initially thought. The resulting cracks spoil the appearance of the room, and not everyone knows what to do with them. The article discusses the most common reasons the appearance of cracks and ways to eliminate them.

It is important to consider the material from which the door and frame are made. If they are made of natural wood, then this material can dry out or swell under certain conditions.

No matter how carefully you install interior door in the opening, you could punch a hole or there were gaps in some places between the frame and the wall. They greatly spoil the appearance, but they are not difficult to repair. The cracks and holes can be small or large, around the perimeter or in some places. How to solve the problem will depend on all these parameters.

The smoother the walls are, the better the door will look after installation.

The cracks not only spoil the appearance of the room, they stop closing tightly, increase the transmission of extraneous sounds, and can play and clap in drafts. No special thermal insulation is required for interior doors, therefore this problem is not considered.

Sometimes cracks appear during use: the previous plaster falls off, which hid defects in the installation.

How to close cracks and holes after installing the structure?

To eliminate defects after installing an interior door, use different ways, among them you can even find such rare ones as finishing decorative stone or tiles. Here, owners are more often guided general characteristics designs, interior features.

If several methods are applicable for design, then the choice is made based on financial capabilities or relying on the taste of the owner. The choice depends entirely on preference, and the result depends on the quality of sealing the cracks.

Polyurethane foam

The space between the wall and the box must be foamed. You cannot install an interior door close to the wall, this will reduce the reliability of the structure. This gap should not exceed 2 cm.
When working with foam, it is necessary to protect the coating of the door and frame from contact with it., then it will be difficult to clean this material.

If the door is installed by specialists, they will fill the space themselves with foam.

If you do the installation yourself:

  • the room temperature should be +5 - +30 degrees;
  • Moisten the opening to be filled with water;
  • the cylinder is kept upside down;
  • fill no more than 1/3 of the total space;
  • you need to start from the bottom.

For use in installing interior doors, one-component semi-professional foam is sufficient. It will dry in a day, then the excess must be cut off with a knife and sealed with putty.

Putty

After foaming the crack appearance doors don't always get better. If the cracks were very small, then you won’t have to do anything else, but if they were a little larger, then the foam would spoil the entire aesthetics. You can then, depending on the interior, choose another option.

Despite the ease of use, putty can have an aggressive effect on the door material, and therefore you need to be more careful in choosing the material and worry about protecting the door leaf and trim. In a simpler version, after drying, the putty can be covered with wallpaper or painted.

Fabric or curtains

One of the increasingly popular ideas is fabric finishing. If the cracks are small enough, you don’t have to use putty or foam: curtains or decorating with material will come to the rescue.

The original appearance of the door leaf is guaranteed, the main thing is that there are no traces of glue left on the fabric, otherwise the whole appearance will be ruined. It is better to overcast the edges, remove all threads that may dangle. This decoration is especially easy for lovers of patchwork. The fabric looks beautiful in the interior instead of a glass door insert or as a curtain, secured with beautiful nails or an unusual pendant.

Plastic

Plastic self-adhesive tapes will look beautiful. You can also use simple plastic to cover the area, but it still needs to be attached with something, and tapes make laying the material easier.

Attention! Plastic self-adhesive tapes wear out quickly, require periodic replacement.

Before gluing the tape, you need to clean the area from dust and debris, degrease it, and it’s better to glue it from top to bottom - it’s more convenient. The protective paper is removed as the tape is applied. It is necessary to carefully press the material to the surface for good adhesion.

You can take cheaper tapes: they don’t have adhesive base, then you will have to apply glue yourself or fix it with nails.

Plastic flashing strips hide flaws well, but they also require additional fastening, which will be provided by nails or screws.

How to do the job yourself: instructions for sealing

In addition to the above methods, You can use silicone paste to seal cracks in interior doors. It is sold in tubes, but you will need a special gun to work.

  1. In order not to stain the canvas and trim, you need to treat them with Vaseline or stick on masking tape.
  2. Charge the gun, adjust the amount of incoming material.
  3. Apply the paste at an angle of 45 0, slowly moving it over the surface, without unnecessary haste.
  4. The door is kept closed until the material dries, the period is indicated on the packaging or in the instructions.
  5. After this time, you can open it and then remove the excess paste.

This method is simple, but provides high-quality sealing. Good for rooms with high humidity, such as a bathroom or kitchen.

After all, plastic is a cheap and simple material that will suit most people. modern interiors. Molding is applied to close the gaps. You need to determine its size, shape and color. You can secure it with nails or glue. There is no need to perform any special actions. Sometimes you can make plastic slopes:

  1. install guide profiles on the prepared surface;
  2. cut parts from purchased plastic with a jigsaw;
  3. work starts from the side walls from the entrance and ends with the ceiling;
  4. close the edges with special corner-shaped plugs;
  5. Apply sealant to all seams and joints.

The wider the slope, the better the ribbed plastic looks. It should be laid horizontally.

Extras have also become popular. They can be attached either to the frame or to the doorway itself. They can be held in place by mounting glue or self-tapping screws (at the owner’s discretion); the caps can be closed with plugs or putty.

The donations are divided:

  • on ordinary ones they resemble slats with veneer;
  • telescopic or stacked - they widen the opening, similar to lining;
  • combined - rather, they look like a decorative corner.

When attaching extensions, the vertical wall cannot have a deviation of more than 4 mm, so accurate measurements must be taken.
After all the calculations of the work, you must carefully and consistently adhere to this algorithm of actions:

  1. Cut the board into pieces of the desired size.
  2. The box is mounted and the accessories are attached to it.
  3. The resulting structure is installed in the opening.
  4. Wedges are placed in the space between the walls and the structure is adjusted until the required position is achieved.
  5. The entire space between the wall and the box is foamed in three stages. Each subsequent one is applied strictly on the completely dry previous one.
  6. The surface is plastered.
  7. Closed with platbands.

This method allows you to make all doors in the same style. It is important to take measurements and installation correctly. Plus - the color of the material and texture can be taken similar.

If you plan to use additional equipment, it is better door frame buy with a groove, which will make it easier to install additional parts.

Attention

To install extensions in the interior space, it is good to use liquid nails as fasteners.

There are many ways to beautifully and neatly close cracks in an interior door. From them, you can choose one that will be closer to the interior design, will be affordable, and will decorate the room. Any of the described options is widely used when repairing and installing doors.

Repairing an MDF door is a very interesting activity. Structurally, it consists of a frame onto which MDF sheets are glued. The frame is usually made from wooden beam. The door is hollow from the inside, so it is light and not particularly strong.

Repairing an MDF door is no more difficult than fixing a bug on the body of your favorite car. Although the easiest way, of course, is to buy a new one. But when finance sings romances and there simply isn’t enough money for a new one, people’s ingenuity comes to the rescue.

The described repair methods will undoubtedly help you save a significant amount of money that you would have to pay for a new one.

When choosing the materials you will use, you need to keep in mind that you need to use those that are designed for working with wood and not metal products.

Repairing an MDF door is not at all difficult. Before you start, you need to decide what damage has been done to it. Depending on it, two types of repairs can be distinguished:

  1. Scratch repair.
  2. Repairing a hole.

How to remove scratches

When repairing scratches on a door, you may need the following tools and materials:

  1. Sandpaper (marked from 150-200).
  2. Wood putty.
  3. Putty spatula.
  4. Primer for wood.
  5. Wood enamel (for MDF, a special two-component paint is used).
  6. Brush for applying paint.

You can remove scratches from the surface of an MDF door using grease-free colored wax chalk for retouching. minor scratches, cracks and small holes.

First, you need to sand the scratch and the area around it about one centimeter. Then you need to clean the cleaned area of ​​the door from dust and small wooden particles.

The next step is to apply wood putty to the cleaned area, and then use a spatula to remove its remnants and at the same time try to make the surface perfectly smooth. After the putty has dried, it must be cleaned again in order to even out the remaining unevenness. It should be cleaned with fine sandpaper.

It should be noted that putty should be applied to the MDF surface very carefully, trying not to create new scratches. To avoid this, you need to use rubber spatulas.

Then apply wood primer to the treated area in an even layer and wait for it to dry. After the soil has dried, cover the entire door with an even layer of wood enamel (paint).

How to remove a hole

When repairing a hole, you must have following materials and tools:

To repair the door you will need the following tools: hammer, saw, plane, chisel, screwdrivers, pliers.

  1. Construction knife.
  2. Newspapers or something similar.
  3. Polyurethane foam.
  4. Polyester or epoxy resin(both can be purchased at any car market).
  5. Sandpaper (marked from 150-200).
  6. Wood putty.
  7. Putty knife.
  8. Primer for wood.
  9. The paint that was specified for the first case.
  10. Brush for applying paint.

When repairing a hole, you first need to cut a hole that is slightly larger than the hole itself. The easiest way to do this kind of work is with construction knife. In this case, if possible, you should try to make a chamfer to a depth of about 0.5 cm.

Then, from the inside along the edges of the hole, you need to fill it with newspapers or just paper. If this is not done, then when filling the door it may be necessary to a large number of polyurethane foam. After this, the hole must be filled with foam. As soon as the polyurethane foam has dried, the protruding part must be cut off to create a flat surface.

Polyester or epoxy resin must be applied to the resulting surface to form a solid surface. It is best to carry out this operation while wearing rubber gloves, since when it comes into contact with the skin, the resin easily sticks and can only be removed with a solvent. And the solvent, in turn, like the resin on the skin of the hands, can cause irritation.

Once the resin has hardened, wood putty must be applied to it. The dried putty must be sanded with sandpaper to obtain a smooth and even surface. You should use paper with the markings indicated slightly above.

After cleaning, you need to apply wood primer to the putty. It is best to do this several times with a time interval of at least 20 minutes. After the primer has dried, the selected paint must be applied to the surface of the entire MDF door.

It should be noted that the primer is best applied in small quantities. paint brush: This will help avoid divorces.

As can be seen from all of the above, repairing an MDF door is not so difficult. And the time spent doing DIY repairs compensates for a significant amount of money.

You can repair doors made from materials such as MDF, fiberboard and chipboard. This will require a lot of manipulations, but quite simple, and if you follow the recommendations experienced craftsmen, then it is possible to avoid serious consequences and restore the aesthetics of any wooden door with your own hands.

Some time after use, any wood covering may lose its proper appearance. For example, you may need to repair a hole in an interior door, which is quite possible to do on your own and even without the help of a professional. For this process you will need to prepare a number of items.

Namely, it is important to have:

  • Paper, both regular and sandpaper, the grain size of which should be more than 150;
  • Polyurethane foam;
  • Epoxy or polyester resin, it can be purchased at any automobile store;
  • Putty specially designed for wood flooring;
  • Wood primers;
  • Special two-component paint composition and brushes.

First you need to remove the hole. In other words, a hole is initially prepared, which is cut using a special construction knife. Preparing such a hole allows you to simplify the process of sealing the opening during subsequent work. Next, inside the door leaf you need to make padding from paper or newspapers. Absolutely any literature will do, but only with durable leaves.

This stage allows you to reduce the consumption of polyurethane foam, which will fill the hole. After the foam has dried, you need to cut off its excess to level it with the surface of the door leaf. Due to the fact that the foam has a very porous structure, it cannot be called a durable fabric, and therefore requires coating the foam layer with resin. As soon as it saturates the foam on the cut and hardens, the hole space can be considered sealed. Restoration and, in particular, the application of resin should be carried out using special rubber gloves to avoid getting the composition on your hands.

If the resin gets on the skin, you need to remove it as quickly as possible using a solvent.

After making sure that the resin has really hardened, you can apply a putty designed specifically for wood. As soon as it dries, the surface is sanded using sandpaper. There must be priming. Each subsequent stage is done only after the previous applied layer has completely dried, which will allow the door to be reconstructed quickly, simply and without consequences. Finally, the door is coated with a pre-selected composition of paint and varnish material.

Make repairs wooden doors and many men prefer to eliminate defects on the surface of a chipboard cabinet door with their own hands. In this way, you can save a lot of money and restore the product to its former aesthetics, even if he punched it with his fist and will need to remove a huge dent. How to restore your closet to its original beauty?

You need to prepare:

  • PVA glue;
  • Clamp;
  • Medical needle or syringe.

Chipboard, even with the slightest impact during operation, can become deformed, since over time the canvas begins to accumulate moisture, and not only aesthetics, but also strength are lost. It is quite natural for defects such as cracks and crevices to form.

Restoration begins with removing all dirt from the surface of the cabinet; after the coating has dried, you need to fill the syringe adhesive composition and fill the resulting cracks with it.

At the same time as filling, you need to install a clamp to tightly connect the separated edges. If the glue leaks out, immediate removal is required to prevent it from hardening, which is not so easy to deal with. The clamps are removed only a day after work, and then you can putty, clean and coat with paint or varnish.

Instructions on how to repair MDF doors: causes of breakdowns

It is very easy to cover an entrance or interior door, for example, veneered or completely wooden, but first you should understand how the defects arose and for what reason. Mechanical damage includes those defects that were formed from direct impact on the door leaf. This may cause a scratch, dent, hole or hole.

At improper installation Problems may arise such as:

  • Skewed canvas;
  • Incomplete connection of the door to the door frame;
  • Too much friction.

Wood and panels made from it have increased hygroscopicity, due to which they have the ability to absorb moisture. If production has been disrupted during manufacturing, this can cause serious consequences. At high humidity indoors or if the building is not heated, the structure begins to swell and deform.

The door can dry out over time, which is caused by the use of raw lumber in the production of such products.

It is possible for the canvas to completely unstick if it was poorly assembled in a factory or even manually at home. To restore a door made of veneer or MDF from defects caused by improper installation, you should pay attention to a number of recommendations presented below.

If the door opens poorly, friction increases, and therefore you need to remove the excess part of the canvas from the edge using a plane, after which sanding, painting and varnishing is required. Ideally, the gap between the frame and the door leaf should be 2 mm. If the door begins to spring back when closing, it may be hitting a quarter of the frame. In this case, you need to trim either the door leaf or the frame itself. In addition, the problem may lie in improper installation of the hinges. The door may sag, and to restore it to its normal appearance, you need to put new washers on the rod of each hinge.

Methods: how to seal a hole in an interior door with disguise

Masking or, in other words, decorating a hole in a door is much easier and more convenient, especially for those who do not have special skills in this matter. Depending on what style is present in the interior, you can close the hole in the door leaf in a variety of ways.

Methods:

  1. Place the poster on the surface of the door; it is perfect for a children's room or a room with a relaxed style. On sale today great amount accessories, among which you can choose the most optimal and original version decor. This way you can not only hide the defect, but also transform the room.
  2. A glued mirror will look very interesting. Self-adhesive mirrors have literally become the peak of popularity, as they perform exactly the same function as regular mirror, however, they do not weigh down the door leaf, and you can purchase a product of any shape, size and even cost.
  3. One of the cheapest and simple options can be called gluing the most common self-adhesive film, the selection of which is available in stores selling construction and finishing materials simply huge.
  4. Previously, it was fashionable to cover doors with fabric or a collage of photographs. This decorative design not only eliminates the problem, but also allows you to use your imagination to decorate your home with your own hands.

The design of the door leaf is very simple in its structure, however, the internal configuration determines which method you can choose for its restoration. Naturally, if the door is made of a solid piece of wood, then there will be much fewer problems with it, since holes or dents are unlikely to form.

How to repair a cabinet door made of chipboard (video)

With cheaper canvases things are a little different. Based on the recommendations presented, we can conclude that restoring them to their proper appearance is not at all difficult.

From time to time you have to correct interior imperfections, and repairing wooden doors with your own hands is one of the points. The fact is that such objects in the house are subject to significant mechanical and other influences. Especially it concerns entrance structures and those that are often in contact with moisture. In this regard, periodic renewal of the coating can significantly extend the life of the doors if repairs are carried out in accordance with accepted rules.

Over time, any wooden doors need repair

Possible problems and their causes

During operation, the door can suffer from almost anything. This also applies to impacts, scratches, chemical factors and ultraviolet radiation. Sooner or later, all this has to be corrected with your own hands or produced complete replacement canvas, which not everyone can afford. Let's look at what problems can arise with a wooden door:

  • Cracks. This usually happens due to the wood drying out; changes in moisture and temperature have a detrimental effect on it, especially if it is not properly treated.
  • Large gaps. They may occur due to drying of the canvas or a change in its position relative to the box.
  • Mashing. Swelling of wood due to high humidity, distortions in hinges or displacement of the frame.
  • Peeling of coating. This problem is relevant for doors that have been additionally lined with some material, for example, veneer or laminate. Paint and varnish can also peel over time.
  • Loosening of the box. A large load on the structure over time leads to a change in its position and weakening of the fastenings. This is also possible due to the destruction of the polyurethane foam.
  • Rotting. Constant contact with moisture, microbes and poor antiseptic treatment destroy natural wood.
  • Chips. Formed during impacts, especially at the lower ends and corners.

The most common wood problem is cracks.

If you do not plan to change the door and do-it-yourself repair If you can’t do it, you can give the structure for restoration.

Repairing the box

The most undesirable problem is the destruction of the box, but you can deal with this yourself if you carry out repairs in time and seal all the cracks. To do this, you will need to temporarily remove the fabric from the loops. Assess the extent of structural damage and identify the most vulnerable areas. Distortions are easy to notice if you use a building level, plumb lines and a square. Make the appropriate notes and get to work.

To eliminate the distortion, it is necessary to align the door frame at the level

First you need to remove the trim and level the loot. If the foam crumbles, scrape it off old layer and re-foam. For additional strengthening, the side strips are equipped with dowels. To do this, drill several holes in them along the entire length and drive them into the wall. If we're talking about O load-bearing wall, repairs are somewhat complicated. You will have to carefully disassemble the box, drill holes with a hammer drill, and then reinstall it. Afterwards you need to seal up the traces of intervention with a special mastic.

In some cases, it may be necessary to re-foam the door frame

Elimination of wood defects

Much more problems may arise during operation directly with the canvas itself, however, they are much easier to correct. Let's look at how to repair a wooden door leaf with your own hands if its surface is covered with scratches and cracks. To do this, you will need wood putty; you can find it in almost any hardware store.

Since a wooden door often has a certain shade of the species, you need to choose a mastic of the appropriate color. You can use the grout that is used when sanding parquet. Carefully fill the damaged area and rub the dried material with sandpaper.

Cracks and scratches can be filled with a special compound.

In almost the same way as a crack, you can also repair a hole in a wooden door. In case of significant damage, additional foam is used. Doing this yourself is not at all difficult - first the damaged area is foamed, then putty is applied and rubbed. Repeat the procedure until the surface is completely leveled.

A small hole can be masked using dowels. To do this, you need to drill the canvas a little at the hole site, and then drive a trimmed dowel into it, set with glue, and carefully sand the surface.

But in order to get rid of the gaps, you will need a strip the size of the canvas; it is stuffed from the problem side. When rubbing, you can treat the door with a plane. And if the problem is in the hinges, place a rubber gasket under them at the junction of the halves.

Fiberboard repair

Now let's look at how you can repair a fiberboard door. This material is thinner and flimsier, so the corners of the canvas often suffer; in this case, the defect can be repaired using a small piece of plywood. Cut the damaged part so that you can easily place your workpiece in this place; you can glue it or use small nails without a head.

How can you repair a hole in a fiberboard door with your own hands? If we are talking about a broken part, you can use wire, a hook is made from it, with which you pry up the broken part of the fiberboard, then both edges are treated with wood glue or PVA and pressed against each other. After drying, clean the seam and treat the top with a fixative. You can make a patch in a similar way by cutting out a square of identical shape from fiberboard and inserting it in place of the cut damage.

Large holes will need to be sealed if necessary. repainting door leaf

If the hole is quite large and it is not possible to seal it, use the same method as for wood. Repairs are made using polyurethane foam, volcanic rubber, putty and fine sandpaper.

Chipboard repair

A common problem with chipboard doors is soaking and delamination; how can you repair such a door yourself? To do this you will need glue and a syringe. It is recommended to remove the canvas from its hinges. Using a syringe, pour glue into the structure of the exfoliated material, then press the sides and place the door under the press. Once the glue has dried, apply protective tape to the edge to prevent it from breaking again.

Delamination is the most common problem chipboard doors

Chipboard doors are not very reliable and are not recommended for use in rooms with increased level humidity.

Decoration

To complete the door repair you need to restore the coating; this can be done in several ways:

  • painting;
  • stain;
  • cladding with other material.

If we are talking about a wooden door, it is best to carry out repairs using already tinted putty; in this case, it will be enough to open it with varnish. You can update the surface with stain. Be sure to treat the door leaf with a water-repellent antiseptic. If we are talking about dyed canvas, there should be no problems at all, the main thing is to choose the same color of the composition. If you decide to patch the hole, you can apply a pattern over it to disguise it.

Door defects can be easily masked using a drawing or sticker

For chipboard, an excellent way out of the situation is to replace the front covering; laminate is usually used for this purpose. However, wooden doors can also be updated by covering them with veneer or film, at the same time you will be able to repair minor defects.

High-quality repairs will allow you to repair visible defects and extend the service life of the structure as a whole.