Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

Our 140yr old Italianate house has beautiful wooden quoins forming the
corners of the house. Each side of the corner looks like a series of
blocks with raised panel centers.

Unfortunately, many of the quoins now have horizontal cracks in the
wood up to 1/8" or so wide. I would like to repair rather than replace
them since matching the detail and quality of wood would be very
expensive.

I could obviously just have a field day with caulk, but I was
wondering whether there was a better way of restoring the wood. I
considered using a wood epoxy but wondered whether the gaps are too
narrow and how it will behave under seasonal contraction/expansion.

So any suggestions on how to patch up these cracks?

Thanks!!!

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

blueman wrote:
Our 140yr old Italianate house has beautiful wooden quoins forming the
corners of the house. Each side of the corner looks like a series of
blocks with raised panel centers.

Unfortunately, many of the quoins now have horizontal cracks in the
wood up to 1/8" or so wide. I would like to repair rather than replace
them since matching the detail and quality of wood would be very
expensive.

I could obviously just have a field day with caulk, but I was
wondering whether there was a better way of restoring the wood. I
considered using a wood epoxy but wondered whether the gaps are too
narrow and how it will behave under seasonal contraction/expansion.

So any suggestions on how to patch up these cracks?

Epoxy would work as would Bondo. If you keep up on the maintenance and
make sure the quoins are painted and caulked where necessary that will
keep the contraction and expansion to a minimum, and you won't have to
worry about the epoxy or Bondo falling out.

And thanks for using the correct spelling of quoins!

R

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

"RicodJour" writes:
blueman wrote:
Our 140yr old Italianate house has beautiful wooden quoins forming the
corners of the house. Each side of the corner looks like a series of
blocks with raised panel centers.

Unfortunately, many of the quoins now have horizontal cracks in the
wood up to 1/8" or so wide. I would like to repair rather than replace
them since matching the detail and quality of wood would be very
expensive.

I could obviously just have a field day with caulk, but I was
wondering whether there was a better way of restoring the wood. I
considered using a wood epoxy but wondered whether the gaps are too
narrow and how it will behave under seasonal contraction/expansion.

So any suggestions on how to patch up these cracks?

Epoxy would work as would Bondo. If you keep up on the maintenance and
make sure the quoins are painted and caulked where necessary that will
keep the contraction and expansion to a minimum, and you won't have to
worry about the epoxy or Bondo falling out.

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that wood epoxy or bondo are
BETTER than caulk or that they would work too. The reason I am asking
is that caulk would be easier but I want to do it right.

And thanks for using the correct spelling of quoins!

Your welcome. In fact, it took me a while to even remember what they
were properly called, let alone spelled!

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

blueman wrote:

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that wood epoxy or bondo are
BETTER than caulk or that they would work too. The reason I am asking
is that caulk would be easier but I want to do it right.

Depends on the caulk. Latex shrinks too much, but it's the easiest to
apply. A low modulus polyurethane would probably be my first choice.
Something like Sikaflex 15LM.

R

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianatehouse...
 

blueman wrote:

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that wood epoxy or bondo are
BETTER than caulk or that they would work too. The reason I am asking
is that caulk would be easier but I want to do it right.

A couple of points of clarification.

First of all, I don't have a clue about what is the best way to make
these repairs.

As far as caulk is concerned, SikaFlex has an excellent tech service
group in Detroit and have an 800#.

I'd start with them.

Second, there is a world of difference between thickened epoxy and Bondo.

Bondo is polyester resin loaded with talc to thicken it.

Polyester is NOT an adhesive, does not add strength, but rather dead
weight, which is probably not a major concern for this application.

Epoxy thickened with micro-balloons is an adhesive and adds structural
strength.

Have fun.

Lew

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

Lew Hodgett wrote:
blueman wrote:

Just to clarify, are you suggesting that wood epoxy or bondo are
BETTER than caulk or that they would work too. The reason I am asking
is that caulk would be easier but I want to do it right.

A couple of points of clarification.

First of all, I don't have a clue about what is the best way to make
these repairs.

As far as caulk is concerned, SikaFlex has an excellent tech service
group in Detroit and have an 800#.

I'd start with them.

Second, there is a world of difference between thickened epoxy and Bondo.

Bondo is polyester resin loaded with talc to thicken it.

Polyester is NOT an adhesive, does not add strength, but rather dead
weight, which is probably not a major concern for this application.

I realize it's not primarily marketed as an adhesive, but it does stick
to sheet metal. The OP is not gluing things together anyway, he's
filling a gap. Almost anything would work - rock putty, exterior
spackle, etc.

R

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianatehouse...
 

RicodJour wrote:

I realize it's not primarily marketed as an adhesive, but it does stick
to sheet metal.

Actually, Bondo doesn't stick to sheet metal very well at at all.

That's the reason they poke holes in the sheet metal. It gives the
Bondo someplace to mechanically grab the sheet metal.

What Bondo really has going for it is low cost and the ability to be
feathered out to a very fine edge.

Lew

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

Lew Hodgett wrote:
RicodJour wrote:

I realize it's not primarily marketed as an adhesive, but it does stick
to sheet metal.

Actually, Bondo doesn't stick to sheet metal very well at at all.

That's the reason they poke holes in the sheet metal. It gives the
Bondo someplace to mechanically grab the sheet metal.

What Bondo really has going for it is low cost and the ability to be
feathered out to a very fine edge.

If it didn't stick to sheet metal well you wouldn't be able to
featheredge the stuff. Sticking to sheetmetal that's experiencing big
changes in temperature and fairly extreme vibrations is much tougher on
the adhesion than sticking it in a crack. Essentially all of the Bondo
would be mechanically interlocked - just like those holes drilled in
the sheetmetal.

But I think we agree that Bondo wouldn't be our first choice in the
OP's situation.

R

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianatehouse...
 

RicodJour wrote:

But I think we agree that Bondo wouldn't be our first choice in the
OP's situation.

I don't have a clue how to solve the problem at hand, but if you live
in the "Rust Belt" for a while and see all those hulks of sheet metal
driving around with the Bondo patches that have fallen off after a
couple of years, you soon lose any interest in the stuff except to fix
up junkers and dump them.


Lew

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

Lew Hodgett wrote:
RicodJour wrote:

But I think we agree that Bondo wouldn't be our first choice in the
OP's situation.

I don't have a clue how to solve the problem at hand, but if you live
in the "Rust Belt" for a while and see all those hulks of sheet metal
driving around with the Bondo patches that have fallen off after a
couple of years, you soon lose any interest in the stuff except to fix
up junkers and dump them.

Oh, absolutely! Bondo is applied in some horrific ways by people that
wouldn't be able to wet the paper bag much less break out of it. I'm
always tickled by the people that use Bondo and drive around like that
- no primer, exposed to the weather - and expect it to last.

R

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianatehouse...
 

RicodJour wrote:

Oh, absolutely! Bondo is applied in some horrific ways by people that
wouldn't be able to wet the paper bag much less break out of it. I'm
always tickled by the people that use Bondo and drive around like that
- no primer, exposed to the weather - and expect it to last.

SFWIW, Bondo is owned by RPM, who among other things, also own
Rust-Oleum, and has their corporate headquarters on a farm located on
StRt3, about half way between Medina, OH and Brunswick, OH.

Trust me, there is no Bondo showing on the fleet in that parking lot.

Lew

Fixing cracks in wooden "quoins" (corner blocks) in Italianate house...
 

Lew Hodgett wrote:
RicodJour wrote:
snip
What Bondo really has going for it is low cost and the ability to be
feathered out to a very fine edge.

Bondo really isn't all that cheap compared to many caulks and fillers
in the market. And in fact, it does adhere to metal very well, and for
that reason alone it can be feathered seamlessly. You might want to
visit an auto body supply store some day and look at the array of
remarkable products these tradesmen have at their disposal.
MinWax among others has wood restoration products available based on
polyester (Bondo) chemistry. The trick seems to be soakng the damaged
wood with a solvent based resin to harden it and then building up the
resulting reinforced wood with the polyester compound. My personal
experiewnce with it repairing aged porch posts has been very good. HTH

Joe

Fixing cracks in wooden
 

You can see my take on all these materials he

http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw...JEpoxy2004.htm

You can see filling cracks (aka "checks) in wood he

http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw...ts.htm#Windows

and learn more about doing wood epoxy repairs he

http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw...poxy%20Repairs

and join further discussions on wood-epoxy repairs he

http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4


John
by hammer and hand great works do stand