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wood repair

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  chrisn 
#1 ·
I recnetly tried to repair some rotted out trim on my house. I simply removed all of the loose paint applied some bondo and caulk here and there primered then painted. Unfrotuatley the finish came out uneven and spotty. I have seen some houses with trim that has a thick coating you cant even see the wood grain anymore. The finish is smooth and even like a new piece of wood. I have heard people mention a floating technique. Any advice?
 
#2 ·
Not a clue what your talking about, when I find rotted wood, first I try to figure out why it rotted to prevent it from happening agin, then remove it, prime and paint a new piece of wood and be done with it.
Never a great idea to just try and patch it.
Where was this trim?
 
#3 ·
Ah, the wisdom of Joe Caption. Joe is right, by the time you remove the rotted wood, prep it for a repair, do the repair, prime, and paint, you could have put in a nice, new piece of trim and be done with your job. The problem with patching is that unless you use an epoxy that moves along with the wood, it will pop out in a few short years and you are back to square one. P.S. Bondo is the absolute worst material to use for a repair. If any moisture gets to it, it pops.
 
#4 ·
You must sort the source of what happened and why. That said, when I used to restore boats many years ago I found this company. Many years later when I got into restoring antique homes and building I used them again for wood restoration products.

http://www.abatron.com/

There are certainly others and some much cheaper. Abatron is not for the faint of heart.

The process with all of them is that you first dig or vacuum out any rotted structure you can. You then solidify it what is left with resin. You then fill the gaps with more but more solid resin if you can. Final look is up to you depending on how you are with shaping tools.

Bondo works as well for the latter stages I guess.
 
#5 ·
You must sort the source of what happened and why. That said, when I used to restore boats many years ago I found this company. Many years later when I got into restoring antique homes and building I used them again for wood restoration products.

http://www.abatron.com/

There are certainly others and some much cheaper. Abatron is not for the faint of heart.

The process with all of them is that you first dig or vacuum out any rotted structure you can. You then solidify it what is left with resin. You then fill the gaps with more but more solid resin if you can. Final look is up to you depending on how you are with shaping tools.

Bondo works as well for the latter stages I guess.
Good stuff, not cheap but it does a good job
 
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