# The best putty for filling nail holes on trim to be enameled.....



## Mplspaint01 (Apr 20, 2011)

My vote is for crawfords vinyl spackle, green can. What are your thought? Why cant someone make a true shrink free putty? It just does not seem that hard!


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

I use the orange can of crawfords putty.


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

Most shrink because most are waterbase to some extent, water evaporates. If they made a 100% solids type, it wouldn't shrink. But it would be hard to make a sandable and workable product like that.

Sent from my MB508 using Paint Talk


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

SW's fix and finish painters putty is what I use.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Crackshot.:thumbsup:


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## NACE (May 16, 2008)

Kleer. NailStick


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## Lazerline (Mar 26, 2012)

I like to use synkoloids spackling paste for that app.


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## JLC (Jul 11, 2012)

Mplspaint01 said:


> My vote is for crawfords vinyl spackle, green can. What are your thought? Why cant someone make a true shrink free putty? It just does not seem that hard!


I like crawfords as well. I use Elmers Wood Putty for a more "harder" finish (bathrooms and kitchens).


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## TNpainter (Dec 7, 2011)

I use a mix of spackeling drywall mud and a little twenty minute mud the powder get the consitency where u want to be held in ur hand like putty or a dab of water for using a flexible putty knife for ur flats. slight build up or overfill after dries light sanding it sands down nice and flush. also no flashing.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

I'm sure this thread has appeared several times. I know a lot of guys that use a 50/50 mix of lightweight spackle and Elmer's wood filler. I've used it a bunch and it works well. Am liking the ready patch as well, but don't leave it too high, is harder to sand.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

Mplspaint01 said:


> My vote is for crawfords vinyl spackle, green can. What are your thought? Why cant someone make a true shrink free putty? It just does not seem that hard!


Many guys perceive paint absorbing into the patch as shrinking. Some paints absorb into the patch more than others and some patch products absorb the same paint differently.

Depending on the surface but take a previously painted casing that was popped off and renailed. The casing has a surface that will not absorb your finish paint but that paint will get soaked up into the patch leaving what appears to be patch filler that shrunk.


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## Finn (Dec 18, 2011)

I dont believe that there is such a thing as a shrink free filler, and any that claim as such are usually the hardest to sand.

One thing that I have noticed here in the US is that the product manufactures sing the song that the contractor wants to hear " no shrink" to a lot of contractors that means only a one time fill and sand.

When in reality filling and sanding of any surface is a two time process, and when your sanding is done, then the area no matter how small needs to be primed, with a thinner product that your finish, if its laytex or whatever it needs to be thinned. 

If you dont thin it, then the water is sucked out of the product into the porus filler and when the first coat dries, the second will lift the first coat of the area that was filled.

Same old same old, everything getting done fast and easy. 

I challenge anyone to tell me that filling as part of surface prep is only a one part deal. 

Im working on my own now as a sole proprietor. Im doing things the way I was shown by my father and by my training with city and guilds institute in London UK, 

It takes longer, but my finishes are better than most, east coast and some parts of west coast seem to have grasped this principal, but here in the mid west its hard to find painters that will put a lot into prep.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

Finn, filling is a one shot deal. No part of being efficient involves redoing things. The only trick is finding a paint compatible with the patch filler or a filler compatible with the trim paint. My preference is to find a paint with capabilities to work great over a selection of fillers. 

Like I was saying in my previous post, the same patch filler with two different trim products over it can produce different results. I know of a shrink free type filler that produces beautiful one coat trim solutions for those penny pinching customers and efficiency freaks like myself. 

There are three areas I put ongoing regular research into and they are drywall primers, bare wood primers and fillers and I fully understand the limitations of all three. I've discovered shrinking fillers are a) end user related or b) the filler isn't shrinking but the paint is being absorbed leaving what appears to be a sunk hole.

Shrink free (fluffy fillers) yield different results depending on how the filler is mixed/condensed and the applied pressure used and the use of a single fill or a two pass fill. Those few things right there yield enough variables to make your head spin.


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

jack pauhl;
Shrink free (fluffy fillers) yield different results depending on how the filler is mixed/condensed and the applied pressure used and the use of a single fill or a two pass fill. Those few things right there yield enough variables to make your head spin.[/QUOTE said:


> let me guess about this jack pauhl secret. I'll bet that you use one of the fluffy vinyl spackles and you take a handfill ,roll it in a ball and let it set up a bit. then you use your fingers to fill in the holes, AND overfilling them. That about right?


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## Finn (Dec 18, 2011)

jack pauhl said:


> Finn, filling is a one shot deal. No part of being efficient involves redoing things. The only trick is finding a paint compatible with the patch filler or a filler compatible with the trim paint. My preference is to find a paint with capabilities to work great over a selection of fillers.
> 
> Like I was saying in my previous post, the same patch filler with two different trim products over it can produce different results. I know of a shrink free type filler that produces beautiful one coat trim solutions for those penny pinching customers and efficiency freaks like myself.
> 
> ...


Still gonna stick with the two part, I have tried a lot of the techniques mentioned, and since when did people start using putty to fill holes ? Small finish nail holes, yes but bigger ?

By the way bud, thanks for taking the bite!!! )


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## Finn (Dec 18, 2011)

jack pauhl said:


> Finn, filling is a one shot deal. No part of being efficient involves redoing things. The only trick is finding a paint compatible with the patch filler or a filler compatible with the trim paint. My preference is to find a paint with capabilities to work great over a selection of fillers.
> 
> Like I was saying in my previous post, the same patch filler with two different trim products over it can produce different results. I know of a shrink free type filler that produces beautiful one coat trim solutions for those penny pinching customers and efficiency freaks like myself.
> 
> ...


Still gonna stick with the two part, I have tried a lot of the techniques mentioned, and since when did people start using putty to fill holes ? Small finish nail holes, yes but bigger ? 

By the way mate, thanks for taking the bite!!!


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## Finn (Dec 18, 2011)

So while we are on the subject of prep, here is a pic of the exterior double doors I am stripping and refinishing. These are Douglas fir. Well only on the surface, and beneath thst is a Lego set .






























I applied a peice of red oak veneer paperback, and will stain to match, that was the closest match I could get.


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## -ganja- (Aug 2, 2012)

a lot of the shrinking comes from the surrounding wood absorbing the moisture. I prep large holes with an oil based sealer and then fill them. it really cuts down on the shrinkage


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