Replies

1. 
   RW | May 03, 2003 03:27am | #1

   You might be gratified to know you're both right. Bondo has gotten used a lot on homes since its dead simple to use. But its popularity, I think, has lead to some over-use and filling of things that it wasn't really designed to do. If you're trying to bridge six inches of fascia board that rotted away, that would be a bad application, but nail holes? No worries. The argument with bondo getting used on cars and withstanding the exterior elements, ergo works fine on housing, only partially applies. It bonds to metal better than wood, and wood moves with the seasons more than your average car body, not to mention wood allows water to migrate through it, whereas steel or fiberglass do not. Nevertheless, you're talking about little pinhead sized fixes. Sweat not.

   "The child is grown / The dream is gone / And I have become / Comfortably numb "      lyrics by Roger Waters

1. 
   stevelf | May 03, 2003 03:43am | #2

   Thanks, RW. Note, the Bondo was used for pinhead-sized holes & screw holes. The aforementioned painter might have been referring to Bondo not being stable when used to, say, patch holes in old or weak wood. New VG doug fir is so dense and hard. I can't imagine the Bondo separating...

1. 
   WorkshopJon | May 03, 2003 06:33am | #3

   Just an FYI,

   Bondo is nothing more than [sometimes aerated] polyester resin combined with talc. It does shrink somewhat over time, but depending on what it's applied over, that may or may not effect its long term durability. If it does ultimately separate from the wood, it's probably because of wood movement, vs. the shrinkage of the mtrl.

   Jon

2. 
   Quickstep | May 04, 2003 02:05am | #4

   Another option that's just as easy to use is West System with the addition of their "microballoons". Works and sands just as easily as Bondo, but because it's expoxy and not polyester, it holds up better outdoors and is less susceptible to shinkage or water damage. I use it on anything that will be painted.