Filling gaps between door mouldings and panels

[Georgeonthecrescent]

Hello,

I have some old solid pine doors that have warped over time, and have many layers of paint and bad attempts at gap filling obscuring the moulding detail.

After stripping some layers of paint and removing old filler, I’m left with a lot of areas where the mouldings are coming away from the panels leaving fairly large gaps.

I’m wondering what I should use to fill the gaps before repainting it.

Rather than filling with wood filler again, I was thinking about using an epoxy resin glue (an araldite type of thing, but slower setting), to both secure it to the panel and fill the gap at the same time. Would that work? I would recess it under the moulding so that the profile of the moulding isn’t changed.

Or perhaps I don’t need to fill those gaps at all?

Thank you

 

[Gothichome]

George, those panels are supposed to float in the framing. Shrinking of the wood is also expected over the centuries. Depending on your tolerance for imperfection (patina) they might look great as is with your choice of finishes.
Ron

 

[malcolm]

For my front door I used linseed putty to fill the gaps. It's kind of nice as it can be removed again with a little heat. I would avoid modern fillers that set rock hard and are impossible to remove.

 

[mardinor]

I’d paint a first coat and see if you can live with the gaps. If not, flexible decorator’s caulk is cheap, easy to apply with a wet finger, and should be invisible if pushed fully in. You can paint straight over. Nice door, well done for stripping it properly and not dipping.

 

[Georgeonthecrescent]

Thanks all. I will take the advice here and try it without filling the gaps and see how it looks.

 

[Toby Newell]

Thanks all. I will take the advice here and try it without filling the gaps and see how it looks.

you can use a modified silane / hybrid adhesive sealer, a year ago there was only one available in the DIY stores, now there are dozens (as I predicted) I have been using them in the trade for 15 years when they first came out as flooring adhesive.

Can be a little more tricky to apply than regular caulk but does not shrink and remains elastic, up to 20%, so will fill gap and allow movement, better than linseed putty that (eventually, may take years) dries hard and cracks.

The problem with caulk is it dries hard with little elasticity, so when the timber expands or shrinks one of two things happen, either the caulk fails or the timber fails, whichever is the weaker.

George, those panels are supposed to float in the framing. Shrinking of the wood is also expected over the centuries

^^^ this, they are called fielded panels.

In an ideal world (if your door has the original glue and has not been previously repaired with modern pva or pu glue...) you would strip off the paint, steam apart the stiles and muntings, clean everything up and re-glue and clamp. Remember to leave the panels loose.

If you are repainting then often it is better to fit new moldings, that might delete a lot of the gaps.

Mr Ahmed at Dulwich reclamation offers this service.