I used to just slap wood filler on any crack, but after my kitchen table split again in a dry winter, I tried a different method.

3 comments

3 Comments

Ah, the old wood filler band-aid. Works great until the wood decides to move again, right? Gotta love when a table just up and splits because the air got a little thirsty. So what's the new secret method, or are we just letting it become a planter box?

johnson.ryan2mo ago

Yeah, @ivan211 nailed it with the band-aid thing, it's just fighting the wood instead of working with it. The real fix is letting the wood move, so now I cut a thin strip of matching wood and glue it into the gap as a shim. Sand it flush and it actually moves with the table instead of just popping out. Looks way better than filler and lasts through the seasons, no more surprise splits every winter lol.

noahcampbell1mo ago

Honestly, how many of us have been guilty of just smothering cracks with filler like it's spackle? Tbh I used to treat wood filler like magic putty, just glob it in and hope for the best. Ngl, my first coffee table looked like it had a bunch of weird scars after a year because every single one of those lazy fixes popped out. I finally learned you have to actually respect that wood is gonna swell and shrink, it's not just a solid block. Letting it move with a shim like that is such a smarter way to go about it.