# When to fill nail holes in window trim?



## nowwhatnapster (Nov 10, 2008)

Hi, I bought a 1950 ranch and we are renovating before we move in. We decided to refinish all the wood in the house floors, windows, baseboard etc. It appears they have never been re-touched since 1950, and it shows.

Some spots on the windows are in bad shape so we had to sand them to bare wood. We stained them to match but now the old filler used on the nail holes did not take the stain and are bright white. I went around and popped out the old filler but I wasn't sure how to go about re-filling them. *Do I do it before or after the poly? Should I use the little tub of filler or the stuff that comes in a pencil?*

*Side notes:* The trim varies in color quite a bit due to mold/water damage. We sanded the best we could and bleached black spots we couldn't sand out. I'm going to have to use a variety of filler shades. I'm using minwax fast drying poly. I bought the 1 gallon can because we will be doing the floors also. I plan on doing 2-3 coats. I do not plan on sanding in between coats on the windows. The spots that we sanded we started with 60/80 grit and finished with 100. Mostly by hand but for big areas we used an orbital and/or the "mouse". Any areas that did not need sanding we used medium steel wool to rough up the existing varnish. Lastly we vacuumed and used tack cloth before staining. 

This is my first time. My father-in-law is helping. He did the floors in his house so he's been taking the lead for the most part.


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## jhagan321 (Aug 14, 2012)

how doi post my photos


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I would not have popped out the filler. I would have either mixed some oil based paint the color of the stained wood and colored the spots with a small artist brush or used a touch up pen. Since you have removed the filler I would go ahead and finish the wood and then fill the nail holes with soft putty. If you try to fill the nail holes now and sand it, the spots you sand will never stain back the same color. 

I would recommend sanding between coats. It doesn't take very much sanding. The stain and poly will tend to make the wood fuzzy and a little sanding between coats will make the final finish much smoother. Sherwin Williams sells a little foam pad with sandpaper on it which works well for this. It is called a Glit Sanding Pad. I would use the fine or very fine grit.


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## DannyT (Apr 26, 2011)

we always used the colored crayons and it worked great


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

jhagan321 said:


> how doi post my photos


 Let me try this again. I managed to upload the wrong picture.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

jhagan321 said:


> how doi post my photos


Just above where you write a message here is a menu and you select the paperclip and it will take you to a upload menu where you select the file and picture on your computer you wish to post. Once you have selected the picture click upload and when the picture is uploaded it will show it like what I have circled. Then click close window and it is ready. When you submit the message the picture will be there. Just don't upload a picture that is too large. Some digital cameras will make the picture about 5 feet wide. You should resize the picture to a normal size.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

nowwhatnapster said:


> Hi, I bought a 1950 ranch and we are renovating before we move in. We decided to refinish all the wood in the house floors, windows, baseboard etc. It appears they have never been re-touched since 1950, and it shows.
> 
> Some spots on the windows are in bad shape so we had to sand them to bare wood. We stained them to match but now the old filler used on the nail holes did not take the stain and are bright white. I went around and popped out the old filler but I wasn't sure how to go about re-filling them. *Do I do it before or after the poly? Should I use the little tub of filler or the stuff that comes in a pencil?*
> 
> ...


I would do the fill like Steve suggested. It can be the last process after topcoating. You can use the pencils, or any of the brands that come in those small jars. You can take a small spatula and mix different colors to match if necessary.

I would not use an ordinary tack cloth, as it contains a resinous mixture (to make it tacky), that can leave a film. There are "dry" tack cloths, like these.

Instead of finishing with 100x, I would go to 150x or 180x.









 







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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

jhagan321 said:


> how doi post my photos


This thread will be of some help.
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f16/how-post-photos-1120/










 







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## jlintott (May 28, 2012)

If you go to popping out old putty, or sanding a recently stained surface, things can get blotchy. and streaky rather quick. One way to fill those dug-out holes to the correct color is with colored putty. You can buy a few small jars with the color variations you encounter. This oil based putty is put on after staining, and sealing is dry. Some put it on after the clear coating is done Not for use on raw wood, though. Wax crayons, or putty sticks can also be used the same way-after the clear coat.


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## slevapaul (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks for sharing the nice post. You have shared the nice info and hope it is some what useful for everyone. There are fillers available in the market to fill the cracks and the holes.


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