[Layhammer1]

My living room/kitchen ceiling is entirely tongue and groove 1x8, white painted pine. The boards were acclimated for about 2 weeks indoors, then primed/painted before being installed. All butt joints were tight at installation. Some were puttied with Plastic Wood where the ends wouldn’t connect perfectly. I live in SoCal and we had a Santa Ana dry spell in October and almost all the joints separated, both non-puttied and puttied. They did not re-expand through the rainy season, so now I’m stuck gaps.

What is the best filler to use to fill these gaps? I need something that won’t crack and that can cover a butt joint as seamless as possible. I realize that the boards will need to be repainted regardless the filler. I have attached a pic. Thanks for your help.

 

[de-nagorg]

Paintable Caulk?


ED

 

[Layhammer1]

De-nagorg, I tried that on one joint, and it’s better than nothing, but you can still see the joint through the caulk.

Would Bondo wood filler work? Has anyone ever used that on trim/straight joints?

 

[de-nagorg]

With whatever you use to fill the spaces, overfill it, then sand it down to flush with the wood edges, then paint over it all, and it should disappear.


ED

 

[mark sr]

I'd use caulking an embrace the fact that you will see joints. The odds are any hard type of filler will crack sooner or later.

 

[HandyAndyInNC]

Springtime is the best filler. They will expand when a little humidity returns, even in Ca you have humidity. I used to live there myself. Plus you have a duct that blows dry air on the wood. Use a humidifier on your furnace and they will expand once again. You don't want them too tight, or they will break when they do expand. 2 weeks is not nearly long enough unless you baked them in an oven that long. Something more like a couple years in the house would have dried them enough to use. Poplar would have been a better choice of wood to use. Pine is filled with sap and water. If you want to never have gaps, purchase poplar and let it sit in the same room for a good year or so. Then you can prime and paint it after is it hung.

 

[Layhammer1]

Thanks for the info. I’ll shoot for spring. The room is 600 sqft, so it would have been a fortune to use poplar. And in an ideal world, I would have acclimated the wood longer, but I live in a small house at the coast, so there would never be anywhere to store the boards for that long. Many were 16 ft in length.

Besides the butt joints, I’m not have much problem with contraction. I was hoping that someone knew of a filler that was flexible, crack resistant and able to be sanded.

If anyone has any additional suggestions, I’d appreciate them.

 

[Missouri Bound]

Why would you fill the gaps?
Or better yet why use tongue and groove if you wanted a seamless look?
Humidity and temperature affects wood......period. Some woods are affected less, some more.

 

[lenaitch]

So long as you are going to have wood movement joints are going to open and close. A caulk is more flexible than fillers, but I doubt you will ever achieve something that is not visible. Less noticeable perhaps.

 

[Mrbuilder]

Layhammer1
Here is what I got by using paintable caulk. It's been up for about 3 Months. Hope this helps.

 

[Mrbuilder]

Sorry gang, musta clicked it twice

 

[Layhammer1]

Looks nice MrBuilder.

 

[Mrbuilder]

Thank you

This is what I used.

Dap 230 Dynaflex 10oz tubes. Available at big box stores.
Screwed up the pic. oops