Hunt for a Good Wood Filler

[David Nelson1]

I'm looking for a filler that I can skim a HW floor with during sanding, filling in small cracks between the boards and small holes in the wood. I'm not looking to fill the open pores in the grain, although if you trowel the entire floor this will happen.

Ideally I'm looking for a size container for the entire project around 2400 Sqft. I don't mind mixing with saw dust for a color match. Looked around in the big boxes and found nothing that looks like it would work for my application. I don't mind ordering it if I can't find a source local.

[Stephen Cherry]

Maybe check woodfloors plus up in Glen Bernie. They have filler by the large bucket. I got mine there and it seemed fine.

[David Nelson1]

Hmm never thought about that. What did you buy and could you add sawdust for color?

[Chris Fournier]

If this flooring is going to recieve a clear finish I wouldn't take this route. As the flooring expands and contracts the filler tends to look worse than the voids that it was meant to fill. It also won't change colour over time as the wood floor is prone to.

[Joe Angrisani]

If this flooring is going to recieve a clear finish I wouldn't take this route. As the flooring expands and contracts the filler tends to look worse than the voids that it was meant to fill. It also won't change colour over time as the wood floor is prone to.

+1

It won't "tend to look worse" over time. It will look worse.

[guy knight]

they make a resin that you mix with the sawdust from your sanding then fill the floor with it this is what the professionals use forget the the name but you cant buy it at the borgs try a flooring store that supplies the pros

[David Nelson1]

they make a resin that you mix with the sawdust from your sanding then fill the floor with it this is what the professionals use forget the the name but you cant buy it at the borgs try a flooring store that supplies the pros

Thats exactly what I'm looking

[joseph f merz]

those were good points that were made about the filler cracking .I have done both .My figuring if the house is stable [moisture /temperature] you can use filler .Did a cabin over the summer ,fir floor. Did not use filler which seemed wrong because "thats how it is done" . Now it is done so glad we did not . The gaps will be there ,but there just part of the floor .if it had filler you would still see gaps at times but slso you would see filler .This is clearly a real wood floor .Cannot be mistaken for a prefinished box store roll out product . Just some thoughts ,you need to evaluate your situation

[Mike Henderson]

they make a resin that you mix with the sawdust from your sanding then fill the floor with it this is what the professionals use forget the the name but you cant buy it at the borgs try a flooring store that supplies the pros
My experience with using sawdust as part of a filler is that the filler winds up darker than the natural wood. I find it does not color match.

Mike

[Kevin Bourque]

My refinisher guy only patched his nail holes and some very small blemishes on my floor. It looked great.

Back in college I lived in a place that had a massive overdose of filler applied to the entire floor. Words cannot describe how bad it looked.

[Steven Hsieh]

I prefer leaving a gap and holes than filling it.

[johnny means]

My figuring if the house is stable [moisture /temperature] you can use filler .

No such house. Any structure the size of a house is going to have some amount of thermal expansion/contraction.

[guy knight]

just talked to a friend who does it for a living he says all he uses is lacquer mixed with sawdust says it works for him for years

[David Nelson1]

just talked to a friend who does it for a living he says all he uses is lacquer mixed with sawdust says it works for him for years

LOl I'm a bit stupid... lacquer?? what kind? I'm asking because I have never bought any. Lacquer thinner yes, but no lacquer.

[Carl Beckett]

If this flooring is going to recieve a clear finish I wouldn't take this route. As the flooring expands and contracts the filler tends to look worse than the voids that it was meant to fill. It also won't change colour over time as the wood floor is prone to.This is my experience. I much much prefer the cracks.

[David Nelson1]

This is my experience. I much much prefer the cracks.

I'm much more prone to the leave the slight cracks ("quality escapes") alone as well. The fact of the matter is this wood would have been rated a utility grade because of all the insect holes and knots. Each board has quite a few "features" from the bugs so...... the nail holes and the "features" are my top concern.

[George Octon]

No filler, terrible idea. And not only that, a huge amount of work. First off, no reason for it, at least no good reason. And on top of that the filler makes it worse. Simple solution.

[David Nelson1]

No filler, terrible idea. And not only that, a huge amount of work. First off, no reason for it, at least no good reason. And on top of that the filler makes it worse. Simple solution.

So what are you saying George..... not to fill anything? Nail heads included?

[David Nelson1]

ok I hate to say it, but I don't like the way the filler looks and the fact that it fills the opens pores causing a lot more sanding. I have seen the colored crayons??? Would that be better for the nail holes?

[ian maybury]

Pardon if I'm missing something David, but the gaps/joints between boards are presumably there to allow movement - they will inevitably open up a little in drier conditions, and need to be left that way so that the boards can expand again if needed.

Nicks and marks in the face of a board are different. Cracks or loose knots will probably open again if filled - but it's often possible to wick in a thin super glue or low viscosity chair doctor glue to stick the wood back together. Dings and nicks in a hardwood floor can be filled pretty effectively with a polyester filler like Plastic Padding wood filler, but as a job it would be very hard work mixing fresh lots time and again if there are a lot of marks. OK for the odd deeper mark here and there though. Some of the pre-finished flooring producers use something like this (but it probably UV cures with the lacquer, but rather than trying to match the wood colour they go for a contrast that picks up the colour of for example dark knots in the wood. e.g. tan brown on white oak.

If there was a lot of filling required it might be best to sand the entire floor, taking down the filler as well - but realistically doing large amounts of filling is not all that practicable - better to sand if you can. For small bits here and there use a plastic spatula or putty knife, and wipe the filler completely flush/flat so there's no significant sanding.

Painting with a floor paint can be quite a good way to tidy up a floor that's a bit dinged looking - light colours like white are especially good to hide marks...

ian

[David Nelson1]

No Ian your not missing a thing. I didn't give too may specifics just that I was looking for a wood filler. The floor is new and has many many insect holes grade 2 or less if I was to guess. I gave up on the cracks for obvious reasons. The only real reason I even considered it is due to that I have read text that talks to trawling the entire floor with a saw dust mix between sandings. I did try it in a few spots and thought it would stand out to much after its finished. Now I'm just going to cover the nail heads and let the other features shine thru.

[David Nelson1]

Here is a couple of examples

[Carl Beckett]

David,

For me (and this is truly a personal preference type of decision), I would leave those bug holes and let the finish fill them. No fillers.

Its wood and generally speaking I dont strive for perfectly 'clear' materials. Even on more refined projects, I like all the little defects and character.

There is a japanese word that reflects this - letting the natural 'defects' be part of the art of the design.... but I havent had enough coffee this morning so its not coming to me.

btw - I love that you started with all kinds of scrap/'junk' material you could come up with and made it into a perfectly beautiful/functional floor - great work! (and to me, this is what 'green' is all about - maximizing use of material and minimizing consumption.

[David Nelson1]

That's the plan Carl. I got some wax pencils last nite and will use those to fill only the nail holes.

[kenneth kayser]

+1

It won't "tend to look worse" over time. It will look worse.

MUCH worse. The filler will not expand and contract with the wood. The crack will return. Eventually the filler will crumble. Some will come out leaving wider crack than you started with. One thing that does work is to fill wide cracks with shims made from similar wood. The crack may return but will be smaller. The only way to keep wood from cracking is to let it move.

I you fill a crack with a shim, then let the wood move (as in a table top) the crack will seldom return. Floor cracks frequently have of lot of dirt in them. This must be removed for glue to stick. Use a gap filling glue, like epoxy; because your shim will not fit perfectly.

[ian maybury]

If it's any help my own experience with new floors has been that when they are new and we're all intense about it then every little mark stands out. Six months later and we see none of the marks. Two years later and it's developed enough extra marks that the resulting patina (? :)) is becoming attractive....

ian

[David Nelson1]

244783 Kinda looks good now LOL

[ian maybury]

That's nice David. One possibility is that you could consider finishing it off with a satin finish - the effect is to by eliminating full on reflections (and yours actually looks excellent) to make even more surface stuff like grain differences and the like pretty much invisible...

ian