wood filler for pine stairs?

[Cameramonkey]

We are ripping up carpet on the stairs and switching back to bare floors.

I have a LOT of nail holes, some knot holes, and some deep gouges to fill. After I sand them down smooth again to get rid of the overspray from them painting the house. (they obviously told the painters not to mask because they were putting down carpet because they sprayed the pine treads out about 5" from the wall.

Every wood filler I saw at Lowes said specifically "not for hardwood floors". Is it OK because its pine? Is there something else to use? I'm STRONGLY considering staining and then using epoxy resin instead of 5 coats of varnish to protect the surface. I know that stuff would flow VERY nicely into the holes. I dont live in Chez Houghmade, or The Stately Freeman Estate, () so I'm not looking for perfect. I can handle some character. I just want them to be smooth and durable. (at least as durable as Pine can be)

Suggestions?

 

[BugI02]

Cmonk, when we took up carpet after we bought our house we had beautiful honey oak flooring, but with nail holes from several different carpet jobs. After a rough sanding we collected some sawdust and made a filler from that and wood glue. It matched the color of the floor quite well and we were just going to use a mostly colorless polyurethane finish anyway. After final sanding and finish you can barely see the filled holes. I don't know if the material would take color, though

https://www.thespruce.com/homemade-wood-filler-1822282

https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/making-wood-filler-from-saw-dust

[video=youtube;rNZHNGIH6oE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNZHNGIH6oE[/video]

 

[Cameramonkey]

I THINK that given its tack strip nail holes, and knot holes <1/2"wide it should be fine. I wonder if the material just isnt hard enough for true hardwoods but pine would be a good match? And if I decide to be crazy and epoxy, it should be a non-issue because the hardness of the epoxy should help reinforce the putty.

 

[MRockwell]

I suggest using DAP Plastic Wood. Adding a bit of stain to it can help make it blend with the final color if you decide to stain the pine. This is solvent based, I have been known to use lacquer thinner to keep it from drying out in the can, and to re-constitute it if it does harden in the can. I think the main solvent for it is MEK, I just always have lacquer thinner available so that is what I use.

The only way I have ever had any luck using sawdust is when I am doing a clear finish, and I use cyanoacrilate to mix up the filler. PITA

The only time I have used wood glue(titebond II or III) is when I have a small crack to fill- spread the glue in the crack and before it dries, sand with a power sander. This method does not take stain well. I usually have to touch up the filler with dye to make it "disappear".

That being said, these are techniques I use on cabinets and furniture. Any time I have installed stair treads that are stained, I use a wax fill stick after installation.

 

[Cameramonkey]

MEK?!?! DONT WE GET CANCER JUST DISCUSSUNG IT?

I did buy a can of that stuff while I was there.

 

[MRockwell]

MEK?!?! DONT WE GET CANCER JUST DISCUSSUNG IT?

I did buy a can of that stuff while I was there.

I know, right? I used to use Famowood filler, basically same stuff as DAP, and one time I bought the solvent which was basically MEK in a Famowood branded can. When that was gone, I just started using lacquer thinner.

Forgot to add in the last post- if you put stain in the filler, start out small and do some testing to get the color you want. One thing I learned long ago is that it takes more effort to "undo" stain. Also, using a sealer before staining pine will help get a more uniform color without blotching. I use my own mix I learned from Jeff Jewitt: 7 parts mineral spirits to 1 part boiled linseed oil.

 

[gregkl]

I like Timber Mate water-based Woodfiller. I have used others, but this one has never let me down.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NV7GRA/ref=twister_B07W21SS5Y?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[ghuns]

MEK?!?! DONT WE GET CANCER JUST DISCUSSUNG IT?

I did buy a can of that stuff while I was there.

Always have a can stashed away.

Nothing cleans the brown varnish out of old glass fuel sediment bowls on our 2 cylinder John Deeres like some MEK.

 

[Jaybird1980]

What color are you staining?

To make filler with sawdust and glue I would use Liquid Hide glue.

 

[ghuns]

We did butcher block counter tops in our kitchen a couple years ago.

Wife wanted a rougher grade for a more "rustic" look.

There were a lot of dinges and gouges I couldn't live with. I saved all the saw dust that I caught in the bag while using my belt sander and mixed it with Titebond wood glue. Worked great.

 

[HoughMade]

All I'll say is you have some good ideas here and best of luck. I'd love to see the after pics (and some before).

I couldn't live with carpeted stairs to the basement or upstairs, but in my case, under the carpet was rough construction 2x materials so filling and finishing was not an option.

 

[lovemachine]

We did butcher block counter tops in our kitchen a couple years ago.

Wife wanted a rougher grade for a more "rustic" look.

There were a lot of dinges and gouges I couldn't live with. I saved all the saw dust that I caught in the bag while using my belt sander and mixed it with Titebond wood glue. Worked great.

That’s the method I use when woodturning.

 

[lovemachine]

Secret to woodworking is covering up all your mistakes

 

[Cameramonkey]

The sawdust/glue will de difficult. I’m also sanding away white paint overspray, so my dust will be contaminated with white paint.

I guess. I could just sand a scrap of pine that’s the same color. (After cleaning my collection device)

 

[chocktaw2]

Only thing I can add is if you have holes that go all the way thru, mix some glue with the putty. And work quickly.

 

[Indy574]

I’ve used the sawdust and glue method with good success. I’m more of a fan to sand it smooth and leave the holes for character. I do not like wood fillers as most are not durable and do not match very well. I think if you must fill them in, I would use clear epoxy. This may be the best choice in my opinion.

I’ve used automotive “bondo” with good success and durability. You need to knock it down with a rasp while it’s still green, cause once it hardens have fun sanding. I would only do this if your covering it.

 

[BGDave]

Today's little tidbit- PVC pipe cleaner is Methyl Ethyl Ketone. Be sure to to tell the Doctor the brand. (J/K I gots the stuff around here too). Guys at work thought that stuff was Perchloroethylene (dry cleaning solvent) on steroids.

 

[ghuns]

Secret to woodworking is covering up all your mistakes

This goes for pretty much any kind of work where you make something.

I'm a toolmaker by trade. I have always dabbled in woodworking, mostly cause the wife wanted things and I was too cheap to buy them. But I always hated the work. When you're used to making things with a tolerance of less than .001", working with wood can you drive you nuts because you can never get things perfect.

One of my mentors in the trade was an old German toolmaker who also made incredible things out of wood. One day I asked him how he got his woodworking projects to turn out "perfect", like the tools we built at work out of steel. He just laughed and said nothing is ever perfect. Whether it's made of wood or steel, a good craftsman just knows how to hide the imperfections.

That was a real game changer for me, both at work and with projects at home. I have gotten much better at working within the limitations of my skills, the material I'm working with, and the equipment I have available and covering up the inevitable imperfections.

The last few woodworking projects I've tackled involved using rough sawn lumber that's been sitting in my barn for over 50 years. And the wife insisted I keep the aged, rough sawn surfaces in the finished product. I would never have attempted to work with wood like that 20 years ago. The imprecise nature of it would have driven me absolutely crazy.

 

[gregkl]

This goes for pretty much any kind of work where you make something.

I'm a toolmaker by trade. I have always dabbled in woodworking, mostly cause the wife wanted things and I was too cheap to buy them. But I always hated the work. When you're used to making things with a tolerance of less than .001", working with wood can you drive you nuts because you can never get things perfect.

One of my mentors in the trade was an old German toolmaker who also made incredible things out of wood. One day I asked him how he got his woodworking projects to turn out "perfect", like the tools we built at work out of steel. He just laughed and said nothing is ever perfect. Whether it's made of wood or steel, a good craftsman just knows how to hide the imperfections.

That was a real game changer for me, both at work and with projects at home. I have gotten much better at working within the limitations of my skills, the material I'm working with, and the equipment I have available and covering up the inevitable imperfections.

The last few woodworking projects I've tackled involved using rough sawn lumber that's been sitting in my barn for over 50 years. And the wife insisted I keep the aged, rough sawn surfaces in the finished product. I would never have attempted to work with wood like that 20 years ago. The imprecise nature of it would have driven me absolutely crazy.

I have experienced the same thing except my background is in woodworking, cabinetry mostly. I would love to work in metal, but at this point, I don't want to invest in the equipment/tooling. Plus, I still see more opportunities to work in wood but that may be due to choosing wood as my medium a long time ago.

Depending on what I am making, I use 1/16" as my tolerance which is like a foot in metalworking!

My problem is that I use that 1/16" in rough framing and narrow the tolerance down as I get to finish work. I worked with a carpenter once who kept telling me, "Greg, it's not a piano!"

But in the end, though it takes longer, I like getting things as close to perfect as I can. It makes the entire build go better. The two bathroom vanities I made this year, I got them so close that I can interchange the drawers and doors between the two and positionally within the same cabinet as well. I enjoy setting up a "system" to get accurate consistency even when building 10-12 drawers. I would say realistically I got those down to a 1/64" tolerance. Easy enough to sand to "perfect".

Next thing I'm looking at it woodturning. I have not done much of it, but I think I would really like it as a hobby in my retirement.

 

[ghuns]

...I worked with a carpenter once who kept telling me, "Greg, it's not a piano!"...

Funny, I've been told by multiple shop foremen, "Greg, it's not a watch!"

I did work in one shop where we built tiny injection molds for wire connectors. That foreman always said, we're not building watches. We have to work much closer than that.