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How-To

How to Blend Patches in Wood-Grain Siding

Once painted with this technique, a house’s unsightly dings are a thing of the past.

By Charles Miller Issue 272 - Dec 2017/Jan 2018

Our current project is bringing back to life some old redwood siding on the exterior of a house. As I was doing some prep work filling holes and cracks with Elmer’s ProBond professional strength interior/­exterior wood filler, I realized typical sandpaper wouldn’t finish out the way we prefer. The siding is grainy and wants to stay that way, but sanding would leave behind a smooth finish. As an alternative, I used a wire brush to finish the wood filler. I kept the brush moving back and forth in the same direction as the grain so the wire bristles would plow out the valleys while leaving the peaks. It worked best when the filler was completely dry. When it was wet, the brush dug all the filler out of the hole and I had to start over. Once painted, the house’s dings are a thing of the past.

— Mike Alexander, Monrovia, Md.

Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller

From Fine Homebuilding #272

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  1. rockinroger | Jul 08, 2019 05:32pm | #1

    Nice Tip. Thanks!

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