Restoring a door frame

[nigelm]

I am restoring an external door frame. Now I have stripped all the paint the frame is in good order, the only issue are some small gaps where some joints have pulled apart due to wood shrinkage. Mostly these are decorative so structurally it is not so much of an issue.

Can anyone recommend the best way of filling these gaps to prevent water ingress etc. I am worried filler might crack due to the wood moving.

 

[oilman]

Sikaflex would work, but you need to have a 4mm gap to fill, or it will pull away from the wood rather than flexing. Another thing is to tung oil the frame. This will allow you plenty of time. Then pour tung oil into the gap. You will have to do this several times, but over time the oil will polymerise and expand to fill the gap. The expanded oil will remain flexible enough to not crack. It won't stpo the paint cracking though so you will need a linseed oil paint or an acryilic paint like the multi-surface paint.

 

[nigelm]

Thanks Oilman, I will give the Tung oil a go.

I did get some Sikaflex 291 (marine sealant) but I am thinking of using this to seal between the brick and frame. I am hoping this will help bond the frame in place and keet it reasonable stable.

On the finish would one on the water based vapour permeable finishes work, I am thinking this would alow the wood to breath keeping the moisture content down and stop the wood moving in the future.