Cannot screw hinges into door because screws have nothing to grip onto. Cant use toggle anchors either. Was thinking of using dowels but then again, the dowel has nothing to support it... What about just squirting a tube of liquid nails down the inside of the door and inserting galvanized screws (despite only being held by the adhesive..) The door still weighs 100+ pounds with all the waterlogged wood in the center
Before you put lipstick on that pig, spend some time making structural repairs. THEN you can drive screws into sound wood. Or replace the wooden door. If you have a wood exterior door and it's rotten, it's not providing any security at all. Replace it. But before you assume your door is rotten inside, ask yourself whether it's a hollow core door.
Sounds like you are referring to a typical metal clad door. If the wood is rotten, there is not much you can do with the door but scrap it and buy a new door. Any other method will just delay the fact that the door has to be scrapped. You require solid material to hold a 100 pound door on the hinges. Liquid nail is meant to fasten materials to-gether with a thin layer of the compound; NOT as a filler. A stop gap solution which may work temporarily is epoxy. If you can fill the area inside the door with enough epoxy and let it set; then you may be able to drill a small pilot hole into the epoxy after it set then insert the screws to hold the hinges. This would only be a temporary fix as the moisture inside the door will eventually cause the steel cladding to rust through. Personally you are wasting your time and money keep that door.
