Ext. Wood Hand Railings

Steve Richards

Stained now, but split open from Weather. Homeowner would like them painted. On past jobs I've tried filling and sanding with a variety of products, (wood dough, water putty, caulk...finished with oil and latex) but none lasted more than a year or two.

I've already warned him of my past track record on horizontal exterior
2x4's, but he wants me to do what I can, and will consider replacing w/synthetic materials as a last resort.

any suggestions would be appreciated

mdshunk

Think marine products... epoxy and polyester resins.

Brushslingers

Depends on the type of wood really, pine railings? Forget it.

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Benn

slickshift

...some nice mahogany rails and some marine varnish would take care of that

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Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

Hatter

Try bondo - works well as a wood filler outside

DeanV

I do not know that I would go the spar varnish route, most times I redo a door that has had spar varnish on it, I am not terribly impressed with the condition it is in. Granted on repaints, they probably have not been touched for an average of 6 years and look awful. I have seen some jobs where epoxy has worked well on garage doors and others where it has failed in one year. On railings, it will be even tougher of course since they are horizontal. One then I have noticed with painted railings is that railings with stain may peel and railings done in paint may also peel but they show a stronger tendency to rot out from the edges (railings and spindles) because the water seems to get in the butt end and not be able to escape.

As far as what the best finish is, I am not sure yet. On the cedar railing with prefinished metal spindles I have coming up, I am planning on using an oil semi-transparent stain for now. Paint manufacturer reps. usually recommed an oil primer, acrylic stain topcoat for solid color railings, for whatever that is worth. I am watching this post with interest to see what others are doing.

Jon F

....Are you saying that you cannot get your cracks/weather checks to stay closed up?? If that is the case (on pine, most notibly) let me offer a suggestion:

All I do is log home restoration, and as you can imagine, these huge logs get gigantic cracks running down them which start at the heart and get wider as the get to the surface. Of course, with wood, especially this size, it is going to be moving constantly, so the seal has to be flexible. The key is a two-point adhesion.

....So you've got a 2x6 rail with a big crack, let's say 3/8" wide. Get a piece of 3/8" backer rod and put it in the crack, about 3/8" deep. Fill the crack with a flexible caulk, keeping it INSIDE the edges of the crack.....not "feathering" it like you'd do with most caulk. You want the caulk to bind inside the crack. Once the caulk dries, it loses adhesion to the backer rod, and you have a flexible filling caulk in there that will expand and contract, since it has a true two-point adhesion. You cannot get this without using backer rod, or by feathering. I hope this helped, or I may have just answered a question you didn't even ask

Brushslingers

ACK! No, an epoxy resin filler would be the correct way to repair wood. Bondo and caulk will just fail. Do a search on epoxy resin wood repair and see what you think, however... if it's pine... it'll still break. I've used a few resins on historic repairs to save the original "look" of trims, it's not all that hard however, the best are two part.

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Benn

slickshift

Yeah that pretty much answers why the condition is not great
You can't let those go 6 years w/o maint.

'Course there's no stains that'll last 6 either
...at least on the shore

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Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

eastend

try wood-epox made by arbatron

Steve Richards

Yes..pine. I wish I could forget it, but he's been a client for almost 20 years.

He wants them painted.


These are 2x4's, so the deepest crack might be 1" deep, and some might only be a few inches long. If I ever have to fill giant cracks in a log though, I'll try to remember...

Isn't Bondo 2 part (filler/hardener) too?

I can't say I've ever used it, but I'm pretty sure I've tried epoxy fillers before, and that's probably the route I'll go this time.

Steve Richards

..and thanks to all that replied.

I've been coming here for several months (mostly just to read and/or post smart-ass replies)...
it's really nice to be able to pick so many brains at the same time.

Brushslingers

Depends on the type, most times people run out and buy auto body bondo... doesn't work. Kop coat, is a resin bondo so yes, it would work ok... regular bondo won't. Sorta like comparing two part dogs to two part cats... different animal.

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Jon F

These are 2x4's, so the deepest crack might be 1" deep, and some might only be a few inches long. If I ever have to fill giant cracks in a log though, I'll try to remember...


Better description. I'm with the person above who says Wood Epox by Abatron. But jeez, wouldn't replacement factor in here at some place?? Sounds like your customer is wanting you to polish a turd IMO.

Steve Richards

Yup.. like I said, I already warned him of the outcome, and I'm the one that first brought up replacement. But he WANTS me to try fixing it first, and I guess that's ok w/me.

"polishing a turd" is indeed what I'll be doing. However, I sincerely doubt I'll be using that term to the homeowner.