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Interior Trim - When to finish - how to fill

Rennie Heuer

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
This weekend I'll be working on some case molding in our house - clear pine. In the past I've tried;
  • putting it up unfinished, filling in the nail holes and then applying the finish
  • putting on all but the last coat of finish, installing it, then filling nail holes and putting on the last coat
The first method was a pain. The second only a little less so. Both required some masking and in neither case did I get a suitable look over the filled in nail holes.

My normal finishing routine has been a wash coat of dewaxed shellac followed by several coats of a wipe on satin poly. I'm considering just going with shellac on this job, finishing everything on the bench and just doing touch up once installed.

Is this a good way to go? How do you guys handle the filling of the nail holes? What do you use and when do you use it.:dunno:
 
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I normally stain and brush on poly. I will use 3-4 coats to get the finish I want. Then install the moldings and fill the nail holes with a colored putty to match. I might then brush a coat of poly lightly where the putty is to seal it. That makes the wife happy because she doesn't get putty on the dust rag.
 
Rennie,

When you figure this one out, let me know. I've been taking the lazy way out: minimizing nailing by using construction adhesive. But that just gives me the worst of both worlds: still looks like heck, and it's a nightmare to remove when something goes wrong... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Bill Lantry said:
Rennie,

When you figure this one out, let me know. I've been taking the lazy way out: minimizing nailing by using construction adhesive. But that just gives me the worst of both worlds: still looks like heck, and it's a nightmare to remove when something goes wrong... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
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Greg Cook said:
Rennie,

Sorry, I have painted all my trim so far.... I would like to get good enough to install stained, one of these days....
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I've received a PM or two with some good advice. Completely finish the trim on the bench, install it, touch up the nail hole with some Minwax putty, then touch up the finish as needed. I think I'll give this a try.:thumb:
 
Rex Bloem said:
I normally stain and brush on poly. I will use 3-4 coats to get the finish I want. Then install the moldings and fill the nail holes with a colored putty to match. I might then brush a coat of poly lightly where the putty is to seal it. That makes the wife happy because she doesn't get putty on the dust rag.
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Thanks Rex - your advice jives with a few others I got via a PM - looks like this is the way to go! I knew there was a wealth of knowledge here to be tapped into!!:thumb:
 
Rennie Heuer said:
Thanks Rex - your advice jives with a few others I got via a PM - looks like this is the way to go! I knew there was a wealth of knowledge here to be tapped into!!:thumb:
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Hi Rennie :wave:,
When I do trim and then do a clear coat I too use the colored crayons. I somewhere got a container from "Liberon". Mine has about 10 colors for my selection. I clear coat then sand, clearcoat again and sand then add color to hide the nail hole. Sometimes I use up to 3 different colors on one nail hole. NNNNNNNooooo, I do not use framing nails to set my trim!!!!!:rofl:
Shaz :)
 
Makes life a lot simplier if you pre-finish all your tim before installing. Then you go back and touchup a bit on the corners and use a matching filler. If you use a pin nailer or brad gun you can fill with a colored wax to match the finish. Then do a touchup with some wipe on finish (like Poly) Sure beat finishing and getting on your hands and knees and masking off the walls and flor or carpet and smearing on the finished walls or floors.

Prefinish is the way to go even with painted and natural wood tones.
 
Rennie,

I have been doing crown molding, but still finishing first and then installing. Later I would go back and fill the nail holes and joints and touch up.






Ping Pong table makes great finish table....:thumb: :rofl::rofl:
 
How timely! I'll be doing some trim later this week. I usually finish, then install and touch up. Been doing the stain, brushing on the first coat of poly, then spraying the rest (sanding between coats). This method works well for me. When installing, I will keep the stain handy and a few q-tips. I stain the cut portions just before attaching to make touch ups easier.
 
I prefinished and then ignored the nails. I was working on floor molding though, maybe ceiling pieces are more important to worry about nail holes. Also, this was for my own house - the client is always right, and so far my wife hasn't complained about nail holes, ergo all is good! :rofl:

Good luck!
 
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Finished!

Thanks for all the input! I finished the trim (1 coat 2bl dewaxed shellac, then 1 coat 3 lb amber shellac and a final coat of 3lb clear shellac) before putting it up. Then I used my brad nailer to minimize the hole size. I didn't by the 'crayon' filler yet - I'll do that later in the week. This is just one of three doors I need to do right away (two are now done). I'll have five more, but I have to install the doors first!

Again - thanks for all the help!
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