Occasionally, you will get a piece of gorgeous wood that has voids or knots in it. You wouldn’t want to add wood putty, because it wouldn’t retain the look of the knots. But, you want a smooth surface. The solution is to fill the wood knots and voids with epoxy. The results will be beautiful and you’ll be hard pressed to find the patch afterwards.
Materials:
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Instructions:
Begin by taping off the area around the holes, voids or knots. Press the edges of the painter’s tape down to seal it against the wood.
Remove the epoxy from the packaging. (I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy glue that sets up in 5 minutes.)
Snip or snap off the tip of the epoxy tubes.
Press the cap out of the plungers before trying to depress the plunger. Retain the cap to use if you have any leftover epoxy.
Depress the plungers and squeeze the two part epoxy into the packaging mixing tray. Stir the epoxy with the enclosed wooden stick until the glue is thoroughly mixed (should appear cloudy and all one color.)
Pour or spoon the epoxy into the voids, holes or knots. Do not let the epoxy touch your skin. Be sure to fill to the top or slightly over the top of the holes. Use disposable wipes to clean up any misplaced drips.
Allow the epoxy to harden and dry. Depending on the weather, the epoxy will likely need to dry and harden overnight.
When the epoxy has fully cured, remove the painter’s tape.
Sand the epoxy until it is smooth and level with the rest of the wood surface. Avoid the temptation to keep the sander on the epoxy too long or the glue will gum up the sandpaper. It’s better to use several passes and allow the epoxy to cool off between sanding.
Finish your wood with stain and/or topcoat of your choice. You can see my tutorial for refinishing reclaimed lumber for more details . You can read more on repairing holes in wood in “ This Whole Post is on Repairing Holes .”
When you’re done it should be hard to locate the epoxy filled area! Can you spot it below?
Want more details about this wood table top and how to build the table ?
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I wish I seen this couple hours ago…before I started staining 😩
In reply to Lindsey Moore .
If the knots are loose, you can remove them, but they can also stay there.
Hello Ms. Brittany, I am doing the same project as Mike, but I don’t understand if the knots need to be removed then filled or if they are to be left alone and filled. By the way your tips are wonderful, so keep doing what you are doing! Thanks!
Will this Gorilla glue epoxy yellow after time?
This was so helpful! I used some reclaimed wood as a table top and the knots all came out while sanding. This solution would be perfect!
In reply to MIsery in Missouri .
Misery, if the holes go all the way through the epoxy will drip through and not fill the hole. The epoxy can’t be stained after the fact. They show up as clear. The epoxy shouldn’t come out in the future. You can also try filling the holes with a wood hardening product. Scott has a great article on exterior wood hardeners here: https://thecraftsmanblog.com/the-wood-filler-epoxy-test-year-3/
Hi!
I have a new pressure treated pine deck that is ready to be stained after a year. Knot holes are needing to be filled ( large and some small). The builder used nails instead of screws to put down the boards, so turning them over would be a huge problem. Can I use the Gorilla epoxy to fill them? If so, will staining after be a problem. And will the epoxy come out in the future?
In reply to Greg .
Besides cleaning any dust, you probably don’t need to do any prep work but you might want to contact the epoxy manufacturer to double check.
we have mesquite mantel that already has tung oil applied. we’ve now decided to fill the knot holes with epoxy so what do we need to do to prep before pouring the epoxy?
In reply to Sharon Artemenko .
Yes, the epoxy will run out as it is liquid and fill always self level. You’ll have to either remove the mantle to lay it flat while adding the epoxy or use a different filler that isn’t liquid.