Apologies in advance for putting a home repair question in this
political round table. :^/

Now that I am driving to and from work in daylight again, I noticed a
problem on the bottom panel of my hardboard-skinned (with fake
woodgrain) Dalton garage door. On one end, where it meets the stop
strip, water or bugs or animals have been chewing away at the stop strip
and door surface, like giant rats were trying to get into my garage. The
stop strip, I can replace pretty easily. But there is a triangle-shaped
section of the door panel surface layer where the top layer with the
fake woodgrain is actually gone- it isn't through to the insulation
layer, but the surface that is now exposed is beyond merely touching up
with paint.

Any ideas on a cheap painless fix? Aside from this one chewed-on spot,
the door is in pretty decent condition, and works well. Epoxy wood fill
slathered on? Bondo? A big piece of aluminum tape? I need to do
something before it gets much worse, since a new door would not pay for
itself at resale. I presume I need to wait for several dry sunny days in
a row, so it is all dried out, before I attempt any repair?

--
aem sends...