Caulk v filler question, and before or after painting?

[IanWood]

Hi all,

I am a bit confused with the differences between filler and caulk.

I have painted my skirting and now want to use some filler to fill the gap between the wall and the skirting.

In the other rooms I have used the filler below, which worked well in most rooms but in one it has gone a bit yellow in parts in one room. Also the white is a bit "dirty" and shows against the paint.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/156510 filler
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/190127 caulk

What is the difference, other then the price, between the two products above.

Another thing, would it be better to paint after the filling, rather than before? With the yellowing bits I think I will paint over again.

Thanks in advance,

Ian

 

[dcdec]

Caulk is ok squeezed into gaps upto about 5mm, so anything larger i'm guessing is where the gap filler comes in because caulk can shrink and split if 'overstretched' so to speak. With larger gaps i usually push in some lightweight filler with my finger so i dont think i'd buy a specific gap filler.

Two important things, always prime first because bare timber will suck the moisture out of caulk filler causing it to shrink and always allow plenty of drying time if applying WB paint. Wickes caulk isn't bad but some of them are terrible and paint cracks over the top of it to avoid this you can run a bit of OB u/c over it first but what i do is spray it with coverstain or bin. However i use the everbuild one hour caulk and its normally ok. I think the caulk somehow ******* the drying which causes the cracking.
If your doing previously painted work apply your caulk before the first coat following rubbing down

 

[IanWood]

Thanks for your help,

As some of the gaps are bigger than 5mm I will use the filler.

The skirting is quite old and had a few coats of paint in its time. I have applied one coat of satin oil paint already. I think I will put the filler on, wait for it to dry and then paint again with oil paint. That should look better I think.

Cheers

Ian