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question: My wife and I recently moved into our newly built house and unfortunately our builder used some sort of fiber board crown molding in our house. The crown is full of divets and problems that our builder did a poor job in cleaning up. What is the best way to fix these problems? Wood putty doesn’t seem to stick properly and I am at a loss. If I could have I would have made him remove all of it and put in proper real wood molding.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Rick
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Sorry. I don't think I have a solution but...
You say "fiber board crown molding".
Could be MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). In my area, MDF molding is roughly 30% - 40% less expensive than say, finger joint (paint grade) pine. I have never used MDF crown, because it lacks the rigidity of wood. Harder to install. What baffles me is that usually a plus to MDF is that it is nice and smooth??? Maybe it's not MDF?
Normally, painters putty is used to fill nail holes, etc in trim surfaces to prep for paint. Have you tried that? Whatever you use, it sounds like some prep sanding will be required.
*Rick--My condolances. Based on installing MDF crown (once and only once) I would venture to say that a lot of your problems are located around nailholes. When you air nail a piece of pine or poplar, the wood crushes and you're left with a small hole to fill. When you nail MDF, it explodes--leaving you with both a hole and a little mound of exposed MDF fibers.Best bet fixing this stuff--sand down the bumps, fill any holes with Bondo, then sand the bondo. Try priming these spots. If they are still rough, try a little auto body spot filler, that should smooth things out pretty well, leaving you with a good paintable surface.Good Luck!
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Your absolutely right as to the results of airnailing this stuff. Thats what happened. I will try your technique.
Thanks.
*Rick If you want to use an easier method then mixing up bondo and using it up before it sets try a vynal based spackel. It is 20x easier to use and works just as well to paint and is easier to sand, plus does not shrink. DAP makes the best one that I have used.
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question: My wife and I recently moved into our newly built house and unfortunately our builder used some sort of fiber board crown molding in our house. The crown is full of divets and problems that our builder did a poor job in cleaning up. What is the best way to fix these problems? Wood putty doesn’t seem to stick properly and I am at a loss. If I could have I would have made him remove all of it and put in proper real wood molding.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Rick
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How about glazing compound.Sticks great,no shrinkage,no sanding.Glob it on to fill hole, smear it off with a clean finger.