Paint cracking on exterior door
 

The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting, including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working" of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's practicable.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Appelation Controlee wrote:
The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting, including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working" of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's practicable.

Flexible decorators caulk,putty, mastic, or don't use wood.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:06:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Appelation Controlee wrote:
The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting, including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working" of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's practicable.

Flexible decorators caulk,putty, mastic, or don't use wood.

Perhaps I should have added that it was the flexible variant of car body
filler that I used. That leads me to wonder whether it was its flexible
charcteristic that contributed to the problem?

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

nog wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:06:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Appelation Controlee wrote:
The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting, including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working" of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's practicable.
Flexible decorators caulk,putty, mastic, or don't use wood.

Perhaps I should have added that it was the flexible variant of car body
filler that I used. That leads me to wonder whether it was its flexible
charcteristic that contributed to the problem?

Not a lot you can do, nature of the beast etc.
Wait for a dry spell and fill the end grain top and bottom with candle wax.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

nog wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:06:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Appelation Controlee wrote:
The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting, including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working" of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's practicable.
Flexible decorators caulk,putty, mastic, or don't use wood.

Perhaps I should have added that it was the flexible variant of car body
filler that I used. That leads me to wonder whether it was its flexible
charcteristic that contributed to the problem?

Car body filler is not flexible enough for wood joints that are subject
to movement, a softer wood type filler should be used, something like
Brummer filler for example.

ste

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

ste wrote:
nog wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:06:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Appelation Controlee wrote:
The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked
along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the
panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting,
including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has
recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working"
of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the
finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at
a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again
within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's
practicable.
Flexible decorators caulk,putty, mastic, or don't use wood.

Perhaps I should have added that it was the flexible variant of car body
filler that I used. That leads me to wonder whether it was its flexible
charcteristic that contributed to the problem?

Car body filler is not flexible enough for wood joints that are subject
to movement, a softer wood type filler should be used, something like
Brummer filler for example.

ste

Brummer stopper is 100% clay, and we know how flexible that is!

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Hi,

I'd just wait til the door has dryed out as much as it will, fill the
cracks with paint using some small artists brushes then paint it
again.

A paint that's claims to be (relatively!) flexible and resists
cracking would be best.

cheers,
Pete.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Stuart Noble wrote:
ste wrote:
nog wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:06:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Perhaps I should have added that it was the flexible variant of car body
filler that I used. That leads me to wonder whether it was its flexible
charcteristic that contributed to the problem?

Car body filler is not flexible enough for wood joints that are
subject to movement, a softer wood type filler should be used,
something like
Brummer filler for example.

ste

Brummer stopper is 100% clay, and we know how flexible that is!

Clay?, that's totally unsatisfactory as a base filler for wood, even a
car body filler would be more flexible than clay.

Can you not obtain lead fillers these days? or have these been banned on
heath & safety grounds like lead paint was, although I think you can
still purchase lead based paint from some outlets.

ste

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Pete C wrote:
Hi,

I'd just wait til the door has dryed out as much as it will, fill the
cracks with paint using some small artists brushes then paint it
again.

A paint that's claims to be (relatively!) flexible and resists
cracking would be best.

You can add flexing agents into paint but I don't think this is the cure
for expanding wood.

ste

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:54:54 +0000, ste wrote:

Pete C wrote:
Hi,

I'd just wait til the door has dryed out as much as it will, fill the
cracks with paint using some small artists brushes then paint it
again.

A paint that's claims to be (relatively!) flexible and resists
cracking would be best.

You can add flexing agents into paint but I don't think this is the cure
for expanding wood.

While expansion/contraction is, I think, bound to be involved, I think the
biggest problem in our case is movement of the different parts of the door
relative to each other. The paint, btw, is Buckingham Green from
International.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

nog wrote:
On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:54:54 +0000, ste wrote:

Pete C wrote:
Hi,

I'd just wait til the door has dryed out as much as it will, fill the
cracks with paint using some small artists brushes then paint it
again.

A paint that's claims to be (relatively!) flexible and resists
cracking would be best.
You can add flexing agents into paint but I don't think this is the cure
for expanding wood.

While expansion/contraction is, I think, bound to be involved, I think the
biggest problem in our case is movement of the different parts of the door
relative to each other. The paint, btw, is Buckingham Green from
International.

Wood gets narrower, but not significantly shorter, as it dries. There is
no paint that can withstand the kind of movement that can occur where
horizontal meets vertical. If the door is properly kiln dried to start
with, and the wood dense enough to resist moisture, the movement
shouldn't be excessive.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

On 4 Nov, 12:32, nog wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:06:52 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Appelation Controlee wrote:
The paint on our heavy panelled exterior front door has cracked along joins
between stiles and rails, as well as along the edges of some of the panels.
I spent much time last year on preparing the door for painting, including
filling all the crack lines with car body filler, but the (moderately)
immaculate finish I then achieved has been marred by cracking has recurred
in a similar fashion to how it was before.
Presumably this is because of expansion/contraction, and "working" of the
different parts of the door against each other. (?)
SWMBO is agitating for me to remedy this, in order to reinstate the finish
that was in place when I finished the last round of work, but I'm at a loss
as to how to achieve this without the same problem showing up again within
months.
Any suggestions? I've been trying to think of ways I can improve the
stability of the door but haven't come up with anything that's practicable.

Flexible decorators caulk,putty, mastic, or don't use wood.

Perhaps I should have added that it was the flexible variant of car body
filler that I used. That leads me to wonder whether it was its flexible
charcteristic that contributed to the problem?- Hide quoted text -


It doesn't really matter what filler you use as nothing will stop the
relative movements of the wood hence whilst a flexible filler won't
itself crack it's the paint overcoat that will.

Any chance of filling the cracks with a coloured caulk/sealant/wax? Of
course the closer the match the better but I would've thought even
something moderately close would stand out less than what I assume are
black/dark voids of the current cracks.

Mathew

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

i have a similar situation,
the wooden window frames on my victorianish house
have cracks, and are very rough where water has sat on them for years,
i was advised to wire brush them
then use car body filler to smooth them out
then paint with oil paint...
or should i fill the bigger holes with wood,
softwood would rot quicker than car body filler,
as its the frames they dont move like doors
so is car boddyfiller ok?

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

While expansion/contraction is, I think, bound to be involved, I think the
biggest problem in our case is movement of the different parts of the door
relative to each other. The paint, btw, is Buckingham Green from
International.

Hi,

The wood won't move more and more, just in cycles, I'd just paint it
when it's dry as possible, and use a paint that's more flexible.

If the gaps now are an eyesore, I'd try masking off and filling with
paint.

cheers,
Pete.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
i have a similar situation,
the wooden window frames on my victorianish house
have cracks, and are very rough where water has sat on them for years,
i was advised to wire brush them
then use car body filler to smooth them out
then paint with oil paint...
or should i fill the bigger holes with wood,
softwood would rot quicker than car body filler,
as its the frames they dont move like doors
so is car boddyfiller ok?




Its very very good IF - and it is a big IF you either cut back to sound
wood or stabilise any rot. A very thin polyester resin (the sort you use
to lay up fiberglass) will probably do this, or there are maybe some
specially formulated resins that are thinner and more penetrating.

You can sort of mix body filler with lay up resin. The catalyst seems to
work for both, but the hardening time is much longer, often several
hours in thin layers and cold weather.

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

Pete C wrote:
Hi,

I'd just wait til the door has dryed out as much as it will, fill the
cracks with paint using some small artists brushes then paint it
again.

A paint that's claims to be (relatively!) flexible and resists
cracking would be best.

cheers,
Pete.


Perhaps a better quality paint could be the answer.

The more oil that is built up on a paint layer the more flexible it will
be, a long oil is better than a short oil which is why coach paints are
always long oil.
Applying thin paint over thick paint will crack, but applying thick over
thin will not, because the thicker long oil paint remains more flexible.

Over thinning will reduce the thickness of the long oil and the paint
will become less flexible, becoming more like a short oil.

ste

Paint cracking on exterior door
 

nog wrote:
On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:54:54 +0000, ste wrote:

Pete C wrote:
Hi,

I'd just wait til the door has dryed out as much as it will, fill the
cracks with paint using some small artists brushes then paint it
again.

A paint that's claims to be (relatively!) flexible and resists
cracking would be best.
You can add flexing agents into paint but I don't think this is the cure
for expanding wood.

While expansion/contraction is, I think, bound to be involved, I think the
biggest problem in our case is movement of the different parts of the door
relative to each other. The paint, btw, is Buckingham Green from
International.

Is it a synthetic oil alkyd?
You could add some raw linseed oil to counteract the faster hard drying
alkyd resin, I know boiled linseed oil is used in some paints but using
raw linseed will keep the paint more flexible.

ste