May 21, 2019 Latest Update
AFTER YEARS OF DO-IT-YOURSELFING, WE ARE SHAREING OUR BEST TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SCREW AND NAIL HOLE FILLER! WE WOULD HAVE HAD MUCH BETTER RESULTS IF WE HAD LEARNED THESE EARLIER, SO LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES!
We appreciate DAP’s sponsorship of this article.
Good day! Do you ever completed a fantastic woodworking project only to be disappointed by the results after the finishing touches are applied? We used to experience this frequently. Unfinished, our really cool table would look fantastic. Then we would sand, stain, and fill any screw or nail holes with wood filler to make it look bad. It’s one of the reasons our home is filled with so much painted furniture. Since the stained results fell slightly short of what we had hoped for, many of those pieces were afterwards painted. We just weren’t utilizing wood filler properly, which is a major factor in this (although I’m sure the quality of the wood we were using as we taught ourselves to build things didn’t help either).
The good news is that we have picked up a few tactics and suggestions over the years that have enabled us to produce MUCH superior stained wood creations. I’m here to share that with you today, so there! These screw and nail hole filler tips are so simple, and now it seems evident that they should have been known beforehand.
TIPS FOR SCREW AND NAIL HOLE FILLERS Applying Wood Putty
Wood filler is simple to apply. All you have to do is insert the wood filler into the gap left by the nail or screw hole. In most cases, a putty knife is used; however, if the hole is extremely small, we utilize our fingers. It’s important to constantly take away any extra wood putty before it dries. When we covered the bottom of the posts on our DIY deck bar, you can see how big of a difference wood putty made.
How Long Does Wood Putty Take to Dry?
We used to try to sand and/or stain our wood putty before it was completely dry, which is a mistake we used to make much more frequently than I would like to confess. Avoid doing it! By pressing the end of one of your fingernails into the putty, you may quickly check to see if it is dry and ready for use. You need to let it dry longer if your fingernail makes any indentations.
Sanding Wood Putty: A Guide
We have also in the past neglected to thoroughly sand our wood putty repairs. You should put some effort into sanding, I promise. There is a much greater likelihood that your wood putty will not take the stain as well as the wood if you don’t do a thorough job of sanding and then staining your project, which will make the repair stand out. Not appealing. After filling nail holes or making other repairs, we like to use our orbital sander to sand the surface.
How to Repair Nail and Screw Holes in Pre-Stained Wood
When to perform our screw nail hole filler repairs was one item that took us far too long to find out. You see, we’ve done many of projects where staining the wood first makes sense before installing it. In other words, the stain is applied to the wood before any nail or screw holes are present. So, how do you fill screw and nail holes in wood that has already been stained? It turns out to be very simple! When we built the wooden screen to cover our utility boxes, this technique was quite helpful.
To make it easier to drive screws or nails into the pre-stained wood, we like to tape off the area. Then, we hammer the screws or nails into position.
To achieve a really excellent color match, we then like to combine the wood filler with the stain we applied on the wood.
Then we use a putty knife or our fingers to apply it. Painter’s tape shields the previously stained wood from the risk of the wood putty dulling or discoloring it, and the filled area matches exactly! We trim away the extra with a putty knife, then peel up the tape to reveal a flawlessly patched nail or screw hole.
There you have it, then! I’m hoping you’ve picked up a few tips so you won’t repeat our nail hole filler mistakes:)
key=”1″ mv create 1 11 200 2016 type=”list” Most Well-liked Projects” thumbnail=”a href=”https://designertrapped.com/wp-content/uploads/diy-home-decor-projects-blog.jpg”
