Having worked in the restorations trades for more than 20 years I have constantly been on the search for the best wood filler. I have tried countless products that at first seemed like a winner only to find, just like my high school dating experiences, they wouldn’t go the distance.
The conclusion I have come to is that there isn’t just one product, but rather a group of products that can handle any wood patching task I need. The best wood filler is sometimes not a wood filler at all, but a wood epoxy or even a putty. In this post, I’ll give you my take on the best products to patch wood on the market today.
The first thing you need to consider when choosing the best wood filler is what its use will be. Is it outdoors or indoors, painted or varnished, structural or cosmetic? There is a product for any need listed below, and you’ve just got to find the right one from the list below.
You can also read the results of my 5-year field testing of most of these wood fillers and epoxies at The Wood Filler & Epoxy Test (Year 5) to see how these products performed in the real world as well as to watch the video below.
MH Ready Patch
Best for small cosmetic repairs and surface leveling – MH Ready Patch is a great patch for a myriad of little patches. It doesn’t work for structural patches like an epoxy, but it does work quite well for things like nail holes and surface imperfections in painted wood (it’s not stainable). It dries fast, 30-45 mins and it’s ready to sand.
It is an oil-based product, but it cleans up with soap and water, which I love. I use it to fill holes smaller than a dime in size, smooth out alligatoring paint, surface checks, fill surface gouges or almost anything else I may need. Its only weakness is when you try to fill large areas which causes it to sag and shrink. Keep it limited to very small areas and always make sure you paint it because it will not last if left exposed to the elements.
LiquidWood & WoodEpox
Best for structural repairs or rebuilding of big portions of wood – There are tons of different types of epoxies for wood, but this product is by far my favorite because of its ease of use and long performance.
We use this every single day and my rot repair franchise Preservan uses a similar product by the truckload. The two parts work together to stabilize “punky” wood and fill in the missing areas.
The repairs can be sanded, drilled, planed, and essentially you are left with a repair that performs just like wood but will never rot or fall out. Epoxy repairs are some of the strongest, most long-lasting ways to patch wood. They are structural, so they can be used anywhere and are usually not troubled by water issues like other wood fillers.
Got some serious rot? This is the stuff you need. For info on how to use this awesome product, read my tutorial How To Repair Rotted Wood With Abatron Epoxy.
KwikWood
Best for small structural repairs in a hurry – Anyone who occasionally needs to patch wood should have a tube of this sitting in their shop or garage. This is a very simple to use 2-part epoxy that you mix with your hands. It’s kind of like squishing a tootsie roll together to mix both parts. Once you mix it, you have about 10 minutes before it starts to set up, and in 20-30 mins it is hard as a rock.
I use it to fill screw holes that have stripped out so I can get a sagging door hung again quickly or other tasks like that. Its fast drying time and resistance to rot and mildew make it perfect for exterior repairs too. I have used it outdoors and left it unpainted for years (not on purpose) with no problem.
Minwax Wood Filler
Best all-purpose wood filler – You knew I’d get around to an actual wood filler soon, right? Minwax Wood filler is such an easy to use and great product I am constantly surprised by how good it does for how little it costs. In the video above you can see the incredible results I got after a 5 year test with this stuff. It outperformed some epoxies and more expensive products big time.
It’s simple to apply with a finger tip or putty knife, sand when it’s smooth and prime when you’re done. No mixing to screw up. The fact that it’s not structural just means it should not be used for larger applications like the Abatron products above. It’s also a great option for stained and varnished projects as well as paint grade repairs.
Sawdust & Wood Glue
Best for color matching and flooring joints – This is a weird little trick that an old floor refinisher taught me and it really has worked great in very specific circumstances. Here’s how it works:
To patch wood using this method, you’ll need sawdust from the specific wood you are patching. Mix it with enough wood glue to get the consistency you need. You can make this a wet slurry and trowel it into the joints between old floor boards or make a thick paste to fill spots on damaged furniture.
You have to work fast enough that the glue doesn’t begin to dry on you, but to match the color of a repair for something that will be stained and varnished there is nothing better. Once it’s dry, sand the surface thoroughly and you’re good to go.
Austin’s Glazier’s Putty
Best for flexible joint filling – Glazing putty isn’t a wood filler, right? Wrong. For filling nail holes or joints glazing putty is actually incredibly useful.
Some glazing putties are bright white (DAP 33) which can hide well for painted trim, but are hard to see if you’ve gotten good coverage plus they can take weeks to cure. That’s why I created my own glazing putty with the help of the folks at Sarco Putty Co. that is usually ready for painting within just 24 hrs. It is also available in a brown color to blend in better for varnished projects.
For a better option to filling joints and ease of application you can’t beat a glazing putty. I can often use this in place of caulk for certain circumstances where more body is required than caulk which tends to sag.
What to Avoid
You’ll notice that there is one product I specifically did not include here that a lot of people use…Bondo. There is a good reason why it is not included in a post about the best wood filler and I’ve outlined why you should absolutely avoid Bondo when it comes to patching wood in this more in-depth post.
I’d love to hear what your experience has been with these products and if you have other favorites that you’ve found over the years. Are these truly the best products to patch wood or is there some other product that deserves the title of best wood filler.
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
I love old houses, working with my hands, and teaching others the excitment of doing it yourself! Everything is teachable if you only give it the chance.
Currently repairing deck. Mostly finished but not yet stained/painted. Noticed that after a recent rain, wood putty applied over finishing nails has swollen above the surface. I then realized that I accidentally used interior grade wood putty. I also used the putty to fill some large voids in a couple of posts. I am not so concerned with asthetics, just longevity. Can I just remove the surface of the wood putty and cover with a wood epoxy ? Thx.
Filling nail holes in decking is usually not a great idea. I’d leave them open to allow for the wood to wet and dry out without trouble.
I used your advice awhile back and am using ready patch to repair loose/chipped paint spots on my 1950 wood siding home with lead paint(which is why I don’t want to sand it)
On my porch, I have wood planks under the tiles vs plywood or osb. I know I can fill the cracks(for looks before painting) with ready patch, but is their some other product you would recommend? Caulk would be too expensive but something I could “skim on”…I guess i was wondering.
new to the blog but this article and the followup 2 years is great!
I have knots in PT deck floor I want to patch. Not all the way thru but halfway. AND a concern is I want to try to have the patch at least absorb some stain. The deck is stained SemiTrans Olympic latex MAX, in custom color Desert Sand. Bit darker brown than the original deck board color.
Which product is best and either HAS such color when dry OR will really take stain (not paint)???
Thanks in advance.
None are great at taking stain, but the WoodEpox can be tinted with dry pigments the company sells and you can get pretty close to almost any color with them.
OK, thanks!
I too was surprised and impressed with performance 2nd year of the Minwax filler, and a long time paint associate in our Lowes said the minwax does take a bit of stain, more so than epoxy. And he thought with SemiT stain in Desert Sand (light brown) the minwax might match well.
Not sure what your 3 year test revealed but it is that a good alternative? The JB Weld sticks I’ve had issue with getting the right knead mix. And some failure with their Water Weld.
Appreciate your insights, look forward to hearing this year’s results.
Still going strong! 3rd year results are posted now at https://thecraftsmanblog.com/the-wood-filler-epoxy-test-year-3/
Have you ever recommended copper borate or GenBor as a preservative to stop decay prior to fillers and epoxy repairs? This would be an important step in long term durability.
Wes
I prefer BoraCare
After reading all these posts, I’m still unsure whether WoodEpox is what I should use. I have an old raised house (on piers) with large wooden pine floor beams. After some repair work, I need to replace the lap siding that installed over the beams. However, one beam, though structurally solid, is twisted, making it difficult to install the siding without a big “wave.” The wood is old and very hard. Sanding would be very tough duty, and there would still be a big depression. I can fix it by troweling in about 1/2″ of some kind of filler, over a distance of about 1.5′.
Is this a good application for WoodEpox? Would LiquidWood be part of the solution? How?
Thanks
Hi Scott,
I have a cedar chest I got from my mom. I want to strip it down and finish it with the natural color. But upon inspection….I noticed a few places of some chips missing…you can’t tell unless you get up close because its been stained. My question is…what kind of wood filler can I use, and will it stand out with the natural finish when I done? Or should I just leave as is and see how it looks?
Thanks!
Ryan
I am finishing a new construction home with board and batten construction. The board is 4X8 sheets and the battens are 4″ cedar. All wood has been primed with an oil based primer, all sides and edges. There are lots of cracks and small gaps to fill and I am asking for advice on the best material to fill all these fine cracks and gaps. I get various opinions including elastomeric caulk, latex caulk, exterior patching compound, etc. I am looking for a product I can work in with my finger which seems to rule out the elastomeric caulk as it does not like to be finger finished and will be a bit messy to apply given the small gaps involved. I will be painting over the filler so that would rule out silicone products.
Any suggestions? Thanks
Since it is new construction and settlement will take place, you need to use material that has some flexibility. Elastomeric is most flexible. A high quality, no shrinking latex caulk would be my second suggestion.
I’m repairing the body of my guitar where my bridge sits. The bridge split across the place where the strings sit in the holes that the push pins go in. I want a bond that will fill in the spaces left between the holes that split apart and also where some of the wood is missing to reinforce the area underneath and fill that. What would be the strongest filler that would solve this problem. I have reassembled the broken bridge with Tite Bond wood glue and tend on securing that to a piece of veneering on the wood side with the veneering face down and screwing in ti the body of my guitar. Thinking that the veneering itself will keep the bridge from splitting again. I’d appreciate your opinion on what I should use. Thank you for your time and cooperation.
… mistake … “and screwing it to the body of my guitar.” … it should have been
Hi, I have a question. The siding of my house seems to be rotting in places, and I have a few holes that are starting to develop. Would the abatron wood epox be my best option? I’m just worried because the surrounding wood seems to be textured, so I don’t know if using this repair method would be too obvious
It will work great, it you may need to add some texture to match what is there.
How would I add texture? Any suggestions?
I have an unusual problem. We have plywood walls that were put up by a carpenter who was going to do custom paneling in our bedroom. Long story short, he got arrested and now we are stuck with plywood walls. We had a guy come and tape and spackle the seams so we could pain, but it cracked and we had a line running around the whole room. Then we brought in a pro wallpaper guy and he spackled and hung the wallpaper, but now there’s a bulge under the wallpaper that runs around the whole room. He has offered to come back and redo the wallpaper and try again,at his own expense, but I’m afraid of wasting his time and money if the same problem happens again, which, to my thinking, it most definitely would. What product could we use to ensure no more problems with the seams so we can wallpaper again? Needless to say, wallpaper is not cheap. Thanks.
No amount of patching or wall papering will give you a smooth finish that will accept paint with the existing condition you’be described.
If you want smooth walls that will accept paint, either remove the plywood and replace with drywall or place the drywall over the plywood.
Matt,
M.Arch/GC
Thank you. My wallpaper guy confirmed everything you said. We will put up the drywall.
My kitchen cabinets have a knob in the middle of the door. I want to fill the hole left by the knob, prime and paint them. What product would you recommend? I don’t want the patch (screw hole size) to show or come out later on. Being in a kitchen, there would be various heat and humidity issues.
Thank you!
Hi Scott,
Great article! Thanks. I need to repair a small, rotted hole about the size of a dime and about 3/8″ deep at the end of a varnished butcher block kitchen counter top. It is flush with the edge of the kitchen sink so it will be exposed to a lot of water. I would prefer to filling this in with something rather than cutting it out and putting in a wood latch and was wondering what product you would suggest for this project. Thanks so much!
Russell
I have a crib that used to have a changing table attached. Without the changing table there are holes that I want to fill in. What would you suggest? Some holes are open on both ends, if that makes sense.
KwikWood should work great.
Scott
Woodpeckers have created a large mess in one of my outside beams, what would be the best thing to fill it with. Our weather varies from 10 to 95 degrees, so it needs to move with the wood.
Thanks for the help
Woodepox
I painted the inside of a house where i removed cover strips over Masonite used flexible filler and cracks keep coming back some joins are tight and some are up to a 5 millimeters apart i do not know what to use please advise.
I removed an old mortise lock from a solid wood front door on a 100 year old home. I want to patch that whole area and install a standard deadbolt set. Do you think I should do a Dutchman rather than try to fill the existing holes? If so, what adhesive would provide the best hold?
Ashleigh, I usually like to fill those mortise locks in with Abatron WoodEpox. Easy to use and works great especially when you are ready to drill a new hole for the new hardware.
Hi Scott,
Need your expertise, please. My dog chewed a corner off an expensive cabinet & also some of the trim. What should I use that can be stained & moldable to recreate a corner & fill in the gnawed trim? Husband’s livid.
Many thanks,
Gerri
I’d try Abatron WoodEpox and use some of their pigments to get the color right. Some faux painting may also be helpful to blend everything in.
HI. Just noticed your question while looking for my own info. Found this product a couple years ago that you can make into any shape you’ll need and then it’s permanent. My daughter loves to see what she can do with it. It’s called Sugru. I know they have a FB page and I’m sure Pinterest too.
Just yesterday I saw some other new product on a home show. I believe it was called Foam Cards. These sheets the size of a credit card are activated by getting wet then stretching and bending into whatever you need. It stays in place until or unless it gets wet, then you can use it again.
We removed the carpeting from our stairs with the intention of sanding and staining the treads and painting the risers white. Unfortunately after we did this we saw that one of the stair treads has a rather large knot hole where the actual knot has fallen through. It is about the size of a lime. Would the Abatron product work in this case to fill the knot hole strong enough for daily walking? Will it hold stain well or will it be very obvious that there is a patch in the tread?
Hi, Very helpful article! Thank you. I want to make sure I use what’s right… My husband was experimenting and trying to make two shelves longer to fit our wall. One was two short and two were too long. So he cut them in half and joined them. Problem is the cut wasn’t perfect and now there is a 1/4in gap between the selves which is very obvious. We are going to paint them but what can we use to join the shelves and fill that gap? Wood Kwik wood work? Thanks for yorur help! 🙂
You can use dowels to join the shelves pretty easily or you could use some kind of joinery if you wanna be fancy. To fill the gap Kwikwood would work great.
Scott, my paint store recommended SYSTEM THREE Wood Restoration EndRot Kit, for severe rot I have on a window sill. Are you familiar with the product and if so, do you have an opinion on it? I reached for the Old Durhams and they stopped me.
I’ve heard of it but don’t have any experience with it. I’m a fan of Abatron WoodEpox for things like this though.
Hi Scott. I’m a DIY building a pergola using some fairly large timber (6x8s, 4x10s). Some of the lumber has a lot of checking, and i’d prefer to fill the checks before I stain. What can you recommend for filling 1/32 to 1/8 surface and end checks that will stay put while expanding and contracting with the wood? Thank you.
WoodEpox is my fav for these kind of fills.