Wood Filler Help

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I'm painting my exterior trim and have weather cracks in the 2X around the garage door. I need a filler before I paint and I'm at a loss as to what to use. The wife picked up some plastic wood and that was a disaster, too thick,had to step on the tube to get it out and would not fill the cracks. After I sanded it the crack was still there.
My neighbor said to use a paintable caulk and force it into the cracks, while giving the advice, another neighbor said to get a mixable filler and make it thin enough to fill the cracks.
If you gentlemen could give me your ideas and experiences etc. I'd really appreciate the help.
It has a southern exposure if that makes a difference.

Smoky
 
I always used Dap #53 Painter Putty. It is a little messy, but I smoothed it out with a rag with paint thinner on it. It doesn't dry out and shrink like other fillers. You will need to spot prime with an oil base primer. A tip to make it not stick to your fingers is corn starch. It's what I used on almost all the houses I painted.
 
That is a difficult problem. Especially southern exposure. I have had a lot of the same and, if it gets wet at all every time it rains, have found nothing that works other than replacing the wood. On windows that normally stay dry but have southern exposure, I just scrape the old paint and repaint them and ignore the cracks. That's part of life for me. For facia, I cover it with aluminum flashing and paint the flashing. I will watch this thread hoping to hear any advice too.
 
Small cracks - I try to fill with Primer and then with Paint.
Larger cracks (1/32" & more) I fill with Paintable Caulk.

Another solution:
As I get older, I try to make things easier for 'future' Larry.
One of the projects I did was;
Replace the Trim around garage door with Vinyl Lumber.
I bought it at Home Depot.
I used:
*) 3/4" x 5 1/2"
*) 1/2" x 2" with Door Seal
*) Brick Molding

All Vinyl and will never need painting.
Make sure you use the correct fasteners, I used Stainless Screws
 
Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. Suitable for exterior use if kept painted and works great on non-structural surfaces. It works best when used for cracks. I've used it for years on countless projects and fixes. Once dry you can drill it, sand it, or cut it with a saw.
 
If you want faster/better then use some bondo. Only mix what you need as it generally dries fast. But sands and takes primer/paint really well.

Make sure the area its going to is clean and dry. After that it will stick very well.
 
Originally Posted By: Jimzz


If you want faster/better then use some bondo. Only mix what you need as it generally dries fast. But sands and takes primer/paint really well.

Make sure the area its going to is clean and dry. After that it will stick very well.


Didn't think about Bondo, that would probably work well. I'd recommend the fiberstrand version of it though since it's waterproff. I know the regular Bondo doesn't take a liking to moisture well.
 
replace the worn out board w a new one

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I started out with Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty, but after trying DAP's Crackshot, I'm never going back to Duraham's again.
smile.gif
 
DAP Plastic Wood is a wonderful product, but if you were not getting it into the crack you should have tried harder to get it in, or thinned it with acetone first.
 
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