Wood filler - does it stain & external mitre query

[tododo]

Hi all
Started fitting skirting boards today and what a day its been mainly due to one dot and dabbed plaster wall

Anyway.......

Been scribing the internal mitres fine - got the hang of that bit but cant get the external mitres right at all yet - theres always a gap - so we will have to fill with something to make good

I have a sliding mitre saw too - ive tried getting the angle with an adjustable sqaure and the dissecting the angle - but its still not right so what do people use to fill holes in wood - I know wood filler but can you stain wood filler so it matches the wood when its stained - thought Id ask

Thanks

 

[pete50]

I'm hopeless at mitre joints but it's mostly that most builders/plasters couldn't make an accurate right angle to save their lives. Anyway all the fillers that I have tried show through stains. paint seems to be the only way to cover filler up completely. Also no filler that I have tried matches the wood. Even pine wood, which is the most common skirting material and which I would have thought would be easy to match is a different colour to any "pine coloured" filler I have used. Don't forget also that wood is not a smooth single colour. There is a grain and different coloured bits in the wood that isn't present in fillers.

 

[conny]

You will only get a good mitre if you set the boards up off the wall and cut them at 45 degrees.
Problem is, when you then lay them against the wall there will be gaps between the boards and the wall plaster because no one can plaster a wall perfectly flat of internal/external corners at exactly 90 degrees.
If you set it up off the job and get them right then when you place them against the wall set YOUR corners correctly. The gap along the top of the skirting can be filled with sealant and then finished with caulk that can be painted to match the wall.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

...cant get the external mitres right at all yet - theres always a gap - so we will have to fill with something to make good

Better to cut the angle too acute so that the gap is towards the wall and adjust (as necessary) with a sharp block plane if you can't get an exact angle (warning: this takes practice). There's also the issue that your saw may not be bang-on as well (very common, that). Conny is right in saying that it may well be better to cut as a true right angle then mitre mate the joint (and caulk the gaps at the top), but that doesn't always work, either

... what do people use to fill holes in wood - I know wood filler but can you stain wood filler so it matches the wood when its stained

Ideally you shouldn't use anything because the joint should be tight - filler (even 2-pack) will telegraph through finishes as well as tending to sink and crack over time. Even the so-called "stainable" filler never seems to take-up stain at the same rate as the timber adjacent to it

 

[big-all]

filler will tend to remain a constant colour where as pine will tone from white to antique pine untouched after 2 or 3 years

so you may get a reasonable match thats 80% correct and acceptable but in 3 or 4 years will stick out like a cream highlighter