Repairing weather checks in exterior window sill

Autumnknight

The exterior windowsill area of my dining room table has cracked and peeling paint. When I started to take the old paint off, I noticed some weather "checking", or small cracks opening in the grain of the wood on a couple different parts of the lower part of the windowsill. This window gets the most sun (southern exposure), and it is just the part of the window that is exposed to the sun where the paint and wood are failing.

Anyway, I spent part of today scraping and sanding the old latex paint. I then did some research on the net, and about the only thing I could find was some information on something called "Liquid Wood", which apparently can work into the cracks and harden, creating a waterproof barrier. I can't seem to find Liquid Wood around here, plus it seems expensive for such a small job. I was wondering what other alternatives there would be to patch up these cracks.

The cracks go horizontal, and most are fairly small. Should I put some kind of patching material over these cracks? Or will a good coat of oil based primer followed by some good semi-gloss paint do the trick? This is just my second post here, and I can tell from some of the reading I have already done that this is going to be a great site for me! Also, I don't have much experience in home improvement, so I am looking forward to learning a lot here.

Is it okay to use a water based latex paint on top of an oil based primer?

Thanks in advance!
Steve

redline

Is this the exterior portion?

You could try using some auto body filler (bondo). About 4 or 5 dollars.
Clean out the gaps and then fill with body filler.
sand smooth, prime and paint.

Or install aluminum over top.

Autumnknight

Thanks Redline! But why Bondo? I was wondering if whatever substance I use has to accomodate for temperature related expanding and contracting? Or will Bondo do that?

Also, is there a problem if I use an oil based primer, then use a water based latex paint over the top?

Steve

redline

You may be able to find an 2 part epoxy for wood at a local hardware store.

Metal expands and contracts with temperature but not to the extent as wood.

Oil base primer and latex over top should work fine. You would have to read the instructions on the actual product that you use to fill the gaps.

Autumnknight

Thanks again! Do you know anything about a product from Elmer's called Professional Wood Filler? I went to Lowes tonight to get some Bondo, and found a small tube of this wood filler stuff. The area I have is so small that a can of Bondo would almost be a waste.

Oh, and this is outside, and maybe window sill is not the proper term. It is the lower portion of the frame around the exterior of the window....I guess a window sill is more a term for the interior....

Steve

slickshift

I use it all the time
Not as beefy as a two-part wood epoxy, but should work for your project, as you are just filling some cracks