Exterior Wood Filler ????

[movnup]

I finally finished my two story deck and want to seal the biscuit joints on the cap rail and also some joined corner 4 x 4's cut at 22 1/2 degrees each that have a horizontal seam. I used Elmers exterior grade wood putty and that oozed out after the first hard rain. It already has 50 year caulk in the joints after the yellow glue / bisquits so it's sealed and strong but I want a totally smooth joint after priming / painting.

I was thinking old school of saw dust mixed with hide glue or shellac or else maybe one of the new expoxies with cellulose in the mix. I even saw one recomendation for glazing compound which they use on exterior historic resortorations.


What have you all be using that fills exterior wood, holds up well to weather and expansion / contraction, is easily sandable / paintable, and also where did you buy it ???

- Clueless in Seattle

[JimD]

I have successfully used bondo (sold for body repairs to cars). I used it like joint compound on a curved porch ceiling made of waferboard. I filled in all the little spaces in the waferboard with the bondo, sanded it, and painted it. It held up fine. It was not in direct contact with water but got wet from wind driven rain.

Jim

[ironhat]

Jim's correct. In fact, Min-Wax sells a kit to harden soft, rotting wood (you remove the loose stuff first) along with a filler material. When I opened the filler the aroma from my teen year when I held my car together with Bondo swept up my nostrils. Yep, same stuff and I'm betting that the automotive variety is less expensive. Boy what memories that brought back - 1961, Dodge Pioneer. What a hulk!

[downtheroad]

I've used the Abatron WoodEpox with good results.
http://www.abatron.com/home002.htm

[LCHIEN]

Jim's correct. In fact, Min-Wax sells a kit to harden soft, rotting wood (you remove the loose stuff first) along with a filler material. When I opened the filler the aroma from my teen year when I held my car together with Bondo swept up my nostrils. Yep, same stuff and I'm betting that the automotive variety is less expensive. Boy what memories that brought back - 1961, Dodge Pioneer. What a hulk!

The aroma probably means that the solvent is the same but the question might be if the filler material left behind is the same...

[movnup]

I ordered some of the Abatron .... it looks like the ticket for a long term outdoor project e.g. cap boards of the deck. Expensive stuff though @ $35 / pint. I also am going to try some MinWax extreme wood filler as a test due to shipping time and also the weather (we're having the rainy season start way too early this year). It is a two part product with a base and hardener so it looks like it was similar to the Wood Epox. We'll see if it works well .....

Thanks Everyone !!!

[Mr__Bill]

I even saw one recommendation for glazing compound which they use on exterior historic restorations.

Glazing compound works well under oil based primer and paint. You can keep a ball of it in your pocket and just push some in a hole, smooth with the blade of a knife and paint. Old time painters did this with nail holes in siding and trim.

I have seen latex glazing compound and this may work under a water based paint, but that nagging voice in the back of my head says no.

What you want to avoid is something that gets too hard and does not move with the wood. What happens is the wood expands when wet and pushes against the hard filler and the wood gets crushed. Come the dry season and the wood contracts there is a bigger gap than before. Oh wait, just realized that your are in Seattle, forget the dry season part...

Bill who once lived in Tacoma and delights in providing three paragraphs of information that does not answer your question.

[jking]

Jim's correct. In fact, Min-Wax sells a kit to harden soft, rotting wood (you remove the loose stuff first) along with a filler material. When I opened the filler the aroma from my teen year when I held my car together with Bondo swept up my nostrils. Yep, same stuff and I'm betting that the automotive variety is less expensive. Boy what memories that brought back - 1961, Dodge Pioneer. What a hulk!

I used the Minwax product a year or two ago to repair some bad spots on a window sill. It does look just like Bondo (except hardener is white, last time I used bondo hardener was red) & workability is the same. It smoothed & sanded up great. It took paint very well, so far it's holding up fine.

[cabinetman]

You could probably get away with an exterior epoxy, which would be hard to keep smooth or sand. Bondo, well painted will most likely hold up well. Whatever you use, make sure the surface is clean and thoroughly dry first.

[movnup]

I was tempted to try the glazing compound too as that was used in fixing up George Washingtons home e.g. historically correct after the fix. Hey if it's good enough for George's mansion it should be ok for my shack !!! I'm not really "fixing" things just filling in pretty tight seams of joints to get a seamless look after paint.

It's interesting that nobody used the old carpenters trick of hide glue or shellac w/ sawdust and then a skim coat after it's sanded down b/4 primer. We have one sunny day tomorrow for the first non-rainy day in ten days so maybe I can try the glazing compound , MinWax extreme wood filler, and the carpenters trick on different spots and report back on what worked the best.

[cabinetman]

I was tempted to try the glazing compound too as that was used in fixing up George Washingtons home e.g. historically correct after the fix. Hey if it's good enough for George's mansion it should be ok for my shack !!! I'm not really "fixing" things just filling in pretty tight seams of joints to get a seamless look after paint.

It's interesting that nobody used the old carpenters trick of hide glue or shellac w/ sawdust and then a skim coat after it's sanded down b/4 primer. We have one sunny day tomorrow for the first non-rainy day in ten days so maybe I can try the glazing compound , MinWax extreme wood filler, and the carpenters trick on different spots and report back on what worked the best.

Hyde glue and shellac compounds/mixes don't stand up to exterior use.

[jabe]

I've used bondo for a lot of exterior repairs with great success, it's the same thing as minwax but cheaper. For smaller repair or to hide seams I use an exterior grade spackle, after priming & painting, it holds up to wet weather well. As for fixing wood rot, scrape off the loose stuff and scorch the area with a torch to kill any mold then apply the bondo.