# wood filler shows thru polyurethane, eye sore. Ideas?



## jsicurella (Mar 27, 2014)

I'm fairly new to woodworking, and brand new to this forum.

I made some shelves for an upcoming addition to our family, and had some gaps at joints. I filled the gaps with woodfiller that didn't quite match the wood. However. I never wanted to stain the shelves - only clearcoat them.

after a coat of polyurethane, the woodfiller was made more obvious and is a real eye sore. Is there anyway to hide it at this point? Without stripping the coat of poly? I can't stain at this point, but would a tinted poly maybe help? The wood filler has a yellowish tint to it, over hemlock wood.

thanks in advance! This project has been a learning experience, so if there's nothing to fix it at this point, ill take it in stride.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Three options that come to mind are:

1) Build it again with better joinery.
2) Sand and paint.
3) Mask off the shelves and paint an accent strip over the joints.

Note: Stain will not hide the filler.

Hope this helps. That is all I can think of at the moment. Sorry.
Mike


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## jsicurella (Mar 27, 2014)

thanks mike. 

so stain would not have helped hide the filler either? Is filler avoided by more experienced woodworkers?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It's kind of hard to tell without seeing a picture but you could probably mask off each side of the putty and color it in. I often mix a thin coat of paint and cover up a place like that. If it's a water based poly mix some latex paint with the poly and if it's oil base you can just use oil base paint. After you get it where you want it then put a coat of poly over the top.


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