Applying filler to external woodwork - any quick solution?

[MikeJhn]

I assume the nail gun nails are lost heads and could be punched in further and over nailed with galvanised or SS nails with heads, these could be painted over or even left exposed as a feature, on my Cedar clad barn you don't notice them after they have weathered in.

Mike

 

[Jacob]

..... I don't see why - in principle - a water-based primer should be any better or worse than an oil-based one (the oil/water is simply acting as a solvent after all).

Cheers, W2S

The oil IS the paint, it's not a solvent. Oil paint is oil/resin etc like a varnish, plus filler, colour and maybe a solvent. Linseed oil paints have no solvents and don't need thinning. hence no VOCs either.
My only objection to water based primer is that when I last used it on a whole house job it all peeled off about 4 years later. Other than that it's fine! I'm not a pro but I did follow the instructions!

 

[ColeyS1]

Just about to leave workshop and remembered this thread

4mm holes and held the nozzle and squirted it in as far as it would go.

No special technique, it seemed to scrape the excess off with ease
I found this offcut with dried ct1 and try sanding it

I felt a right pleb :lol: it wibble wobbled everywhere and didn't really make any progress. If you can scrape off the worst of it I reckon it might be beautiful !

Coley

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[No skills]

With all the Linseed paint mentioned I wondered if Linseed window putty would be an alternative??
I have never used it! Just a thought.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Decorators used putty before the advent of two part fillers. They were glad to see two part fillers.

 

[Jacob]

With all the Linseed paint mentioned I wondered if Linseed window putty would be an alternative??
I have never used it! Just a thought.

Very quick and easiest of all to apply and smooth off. Very permanent and stable (if paint well maintained). Can't be painted for a few days to a week depending on weather and size of hole filled.

 

[Jacob]

With all the Linseed paint mentioned I wondered if Linseed window putty would be an alternative??
I have never used it! Just a thought.

Very quick and easiest of all to apply and smooth off. Very permanent and stable (if paint well maintained). Can't be painted for a few days to a week depending on weather and size of hole filled.

I should add: deeply unfashionable, because it isn't "new, improved" with spurious performance claims and dubious technical sounding additives intended to impress novices and the simple minded.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I remember working with a decorator who insisted on using putty - because it was better than two part. I saw the putty he often used - it was usually a lump of semi hard dirty stuff from the bottom of a long forgotten tub, not exactly adhesive and easily smoothed. It used to go down really well when we had to drag triple extension ladders and scaffolding around twice because his putty couldn't be painted for three or four days. Nothing like a bit of tradition for making work in many cases - it's not always better. I'm sure the companies that developed two part fillers didn't start with the remit to make something something like as good as old putty.

 

[Jacob]

I remember working with a decorator who insisted on using putty - because it was better than two part. I saw the putty he often used - it was usually a lump of semi hard dirty stuff from the bottom of a long forgotten tub, not exactly adhesive and easily smoothed. It used to go down really well when we had to drag triple extension ladders and scaffolding around twice because his putty couldn't be painted for three or four days. Nothing like a bit of tradition for making work in many cases - it's not always better. I'm sure the companies that developed two part fillers didn't start with the remit to make something something like as good as old putty.

Well yes speed is the big selling point with modern decorating materials but it is cancelled out by short life. You'll have to do it all over again in a few years, and probably replace rotten timber if you leave it too long.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

"You'll have to do it all over again in a few years ..." - no more so than with putty, and probably less. I can think of scores of occasions I've picked out loose putty and replaced it - but never a two part.

 

[Jacob]

"You'll have to do it all over again in a few years ..." - no more so than with putty, and probably less. I can think of scores of occasions I've picked out loose putty and replaced it - but never a two part.

I've struggled to pick out 100 year old putty.
It doesn't work on it's own: window rebates need shellac (which would be good for the OPs nail prob and very quick to dab on and to dry) and putty needs linseed oil paint ideally. It's less good under modern paint (as is anything/everything).
I've been fiddling with old joinery for most of my life and actually know what I'm talking about. I've come to the conclusion that the whole plastic window industry has come into existence not because of failed timber but because of failing modern paint. Once the old paint has been stripped from an old item of joinery its life has been drastically reduced unless it is re-painted with linseed oil paint, but it's the timber wot gets the blame.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

"It doesn't work on it's own: window rebates need shellac ... " I can't see anyone using putty as a filler shellacking the holes first.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

="Jacob. I've come to the conclusion that the whole plastic window industry has come into existence not because of failed timber but because of failing modern paint.

And just possibly/maybe/perhaps that Upvc doesn't need painting so removes the need to maintain the windows....and comes in sealed double/triple glazing which has acoustic/thermal benefits...maybe/possibly/perhaps.

Not important differences, certainly not that would drive a multi million pound industry

 

[Jacob]

"It doesn't work on it's own: window rebates need shellac ... " I can't see anyone using putty as a filler shellacking the holes first.

More fool them!
Before filling I always prime at the very least, but shellac is the ultimate primer. I know this from experience - very old neglected bits of joinery where the only bits still in original condition are under the shellac dabs ("knotting") or under the shellac in the rebates.

 

[Jacob]

="Jacob. I've come to the conclusion that the whole plastic window industry has come into existence not because of failed timber but because of failing modern paint.

And just possibly/maybe/perhaps that Upvc doesn't need painting so removes the need to maintain the windows....and comes in sealed double/triple glazing which has acoustic/thermal benefits...maybe/possibly/perhaps.

Not important differences, certainly not that would drive a multi million pound industry

Yes to thermal insulation - but not sufficient to pay for itself - the pay back period is indefinite to infinite. In other words not worth the bother on that score alone - better to put in more insulation. draft reduction, thicker curtains etc. It's easy to prove this if you can be bothered to do the calculations and is well known/documented you don't have to take my word for it!
Yes to sound insulation which is an issue for some (but not many) and there are other ways of dealing with it.
UPVC deteriorates but instead of paint gets replaced entirely- 10 to 20 years down the line.
In the same period using linseed oil paints you'd need one or two paint jobs at a fraction of the cost. Linseed oil paint doesn't need stripping either, it just needs topping up.

There's a bit of a "real paint" revolution going on at the mo. Remember when everybody thought Worthington E was marvellous and then suddenly realised it wasn't? :lol:

 

[Woody2Shoes]

"You'll have to do it all over again in a few years ..." - no more so than with putty, and probably less. I can think of scores of occasions I've picked out loose putty and replaced it - but never a two part.

I've struggled to pick out 100 year old putty.
It doesn't work on it's own: window rebates need shellac (which would be good for the OPs nail prob and very quick to dab on and to dry) and putty needs linseed oil paint ideally. It's less good under modern paint (as is anything/everything).
I've been fiddling with old joinery for most of my life and actually know what I'm talking about. I've come to the conclusion that the whole plastic window industry has come into existence not because of failed timber but because of failing modern paint. Once the old paint has been stripped from an old item of joinery its life has been drastically reduced unless it is re-painted with linseed oil paint, but it's the timber wot gets the blame.

I think that many modern timber windows often suffer early paint failure for reasons which include:
- Poor timber selection and preparation (kiln-dried, yard-soaked, fast-grown softwood of dubious quality);
- Poor detailing of the window design e.g. lack of drainage to rebates, sharp arrises etc.;
- Poor architectural detailing - partly because of modern two-skin masonry construction, we often tend to have windows (almost) co-planar with masonry walls - old windows tend to be better protected by being set back into the wall more etc.;
- Two trades being responsible for the overall window (neither necessarily fully understanding the details of another) i.e. joiners and painters - often the priming is done by the joiner's apprentice and the undercoat/topcoat done by the painter's apprentice (and the installation may be done by someone without either skill-set!);
- Poor maintenance.

Plastic windows are all very well, but they're not maintenance free and will not last indefinitely. To me, they nearly always look like plastic in spite of efforts to disguise them (partly because of the design detailing as much because of the material itself). In terms of energy efficiency and security I think timber can equal plastic.

I'm hoping that my 100-year-old pine windows will still be working just fine in another 100 years!

Cheers, W2S

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Worthington "E" was Bass with a different label. By the Bye. The main reason for the increase in REAL insulation values of uPVC is of course not that they are double glazed ... but that they fit. Much old joinery no matter what's done to it, doesn't. Linseed paint doesn't seem to cure that.

 

[Jacob]

Worthington "E" was Bass with a different label. By the Bye. The main reason for the increase in REAL insulation values of uPVC is of course not that they are double glazed ... but that they fit. Much old joinery no matter what's done to it, doesn't.

They fitted well when new. Does require a tiny bit of skill to make it fit, usually after years of wear and neglect. Worth paying for skill rather than replacing with with plastic tat.

Linseed paint doesn't seem to cure that.

Well it wouldn't would it? But it does a lot of other things which modern paints don't do.

Worthington "E" most certainly wasn't Bass with a different label! Bass my favourite - I know it well. Too well :roll:

 

[Jacob]

Don't know anything about this firm but as I said earlier - there's a bit of a "real paint" movement going on.

https://oricalcum.uk/

I've just been at it myself - applying oil to old paint work. It's blissfully easy to apply but takes 2/3 days to dry enough for the next coat, which means dead flies. But it's still a labour saver overall , in a big way.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Jacob - Worthington E and Blue Bass were exactly the same. It has been widely known for decades (at least four, to my knowledge). I have friends who worked both for Bass and the local brewery (A240 was the their bottling code) which bottled it. Same tanker, same vat, same bottling line, same bottles ... and a different label. It was bottled less than 100 yards from where I lived, and i worked in the licenced trade all my working life.

As were apparently Red Bass and White Worthington, but that was a bit before my time.