Wood filler

[Juju]

We've got an old oak internal window cill that needs some repairs. We had the secondary glazing removed and it was hiding a deep groove between the cill and window (and probably removing the sec glazing didn't help). The wood is as hard as nails so I don't think it has any rot or whatever.

I need to do some urgent repairs to this (before the carpenter fits the shutters). Is bog-standard wood filler ok or is it worth splashing out on something fancy given that it's a lovely 300 year old bit of wood?

 

[Flyfisher]

I doubt that wood filler would do any harm, and it would certainly be quick, but would today's urgency compromise the overall job for the years to come?

It's difficult to judge without seeing it, but my instinct would be to fill the deep groove with new oak to match the original.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Without a picture it's a bit hard to visualise, but could you use some beading or a thin fillet of wood to cover the gap, rather than bodging it with filler? At least then it would be 'undoable' and might look neater. Ideally a bit of oak, stained down to match the existing.

 

[Juju]

Thanks for suggestions. I should have said that at the moment it's painted, so probably I'll paint it again. It would be nice stripped but there's a painted window seat below it and also the window is painted so not sure how it would look mixing and matching paint and bare wood. So I suppose basic wood filler would be ok if painting over it. Although I could phone the carpenter and see if he has some oak kicking around...

Here's a photo. This is one section - it is a multi-paned window so there are 3 of these horizontally and the groove goes all the way across the cill.


[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

 

[MdB]

How about removing the rough bits then just repaint? Leave the groove as a feature showing some of the windows history.

 

[chuckey]

Whats at the bottom of the groove? I would guess that the oak has a tongue on it going into a groove in the window frame. I would cut a piece of oak strip to fit and glue it in. Then plane the top down flush. to fill a hole as big as this with filler will result in a lot of shrinkage and re-filling.
Frank

 

[Penners]

I agree with Frank's suggestion, with a couple of PS's.

Firstly, do make sure you use kiln-dried oak. If the wood isn't good and dry it could shrink and leave you with another (smaller) gap.

Secondly, for the sake of belt-and-braces, apply the glue to one side of the fillet only. Then, if you do still get some shrinkage in the wood, you'll only have to deal with a smaller gap. If you glue both sides you could have a crack to sort out, which would be much trickier.

 

[Juju]

Thanks very much for suggestions. I'm going to leave it alone till the spring when I paint the windows. It's not affected by the shutters which were fitted today and look really great. I'm really impressed by the sound-muffling quality of shutters! They're almost as good as the secondary glazing which has been removed. Now we can really see our lovely arched windows (which, as the carpenter pointed out, are the only remaining arched windows in the street).

 

[thiambal]

If you are going to use filler then I have found the Ronseal Flexible Wood Filler (in small white and purple pots) very effective.

I is very expensive for filler but it sands down well, it paints nicely, I have put it in in lumps and carved to match original mouldings when dry and so far over two year I have not had any cracking or shrinking.