Wood Finishing Holes - What would you do?

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
22,520
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
I bought some wooden shelves with the aim to use them as window sills. They came pre-stained but with 2 issues. I added the third myself.

1 - The Woodstain was very soft, so when i cut the shelves a little to fit into the window cavity it scratched the top a lot and looked a mess

2 - My wife felt they were a bit to dark

3 - Me being an idiot. The shelves came pre-drilled for attaching to the wall. When cutting one of them i stupidly cut the wrong side so the holes were on the face side. This is the main issue here! As can be seen below.


SbcBmYN.png

I sanded the tops of them to get rid of the scratches which seemed to give a decent effect on one of them, can be seen above.

However i couldn't get the other to match so i've ended up having to sand them right back to bare wood. I didn't mind that colour so used some filler for the holes and was going to just give them a coat with a clear satin varnish.

However my wife things the filled in holes look stupid. They definately stand out but they don't bother me quite as much. I initially used a PVA/sawdust mix to try and get the right balance, but because of the woodstain this came out much darker than the rest (this can be seen as a ring around the hole on the right) and i'm reluctant to sand off too much more to create more sawdust. This is just done using Ronseal wood filler and seems a decent colour match anyway.

LsxtNDV.png


I now have a couple options.

1 - Try and stain the wood and hope they're less noticable.

2 - Make them a feature and paint them a contrasting colour. Also thought i could do the same to the other windowsill but my wife is 100% against this idea. Just mentioning it incase anyone else has that thought.

3 - Get some hooks/brackets to attach to the front to cover the holes. Could kind of use anything here from cabinet door knobs to coat hooks. Because of the location of the windowsill. This could work as it's not above a worktop so could give the impression it's intentional!

4 - Buy a plug cutter. Use an offcut and cut out some slightly larger plugs. Drill out the filler and whack in the plugs in the hope it looks better.



At the moment option 3 is sounding the best/easiest. But can't quite settle on what would be best.

Anyone else have any ideas?
 
Last edited:
How much were they?
I would be tempted to go for option 5, buy new and get it right this time. Edit to say I am not being a **** in regards that statement, they look good so why not just repeat it and save the hastle of trying to bodge it.

Your problem is going to be getting them decent enough even with plugs due to the PVA rejecting some of the stain. So you would need more like coloured varnish

I suppose there is option 6, get a contrasting trim to put on the front. Something like https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pine-3-Rise-Panel-Moulding---28mm-x-9mm-x-2-4m/p/121300
 
Yeah, option 5 is definitely an option. They're sold as Reclaimed Pine shelves and i think they were around £40ish each. I suppose now i have the template. I could give them to the wood guy to get him to cut to shape prior to staining. That would remove the issue of my scratching them when i cut it down.

The trim idea won't work sadly as they're quite rounded at the edges. You can see on the front sticky out bits (great description!) on the top piece in the second photo. The only option would be to actually paint the front of it. Maybe a light grey which would then match the kitchen cabinets. I actually have quite a bit of the paint already.
 
I think plugs would be ok. As it's reclaimed wood, it's pretty much like a feature.

I'd not try to get a smooth finish - just glue them in and leave a 'crack' around them at the front so that the varnish doesn't react to the glue/sealant/filler.

Or just buy another and try again.
 
I think they look really smart in the lower pics, the holes already look like they have plugs in them and adds to the rustic nature of it. Are you sure you aren't both focusing on it too much because you know it wasn't intentional? I'd just seal/wax the bare wood in a neutral colour and fit them.

If what you've done already really bothers you I doubt fitting plugs will make you any happier so you'd be better off starting again.

I also wouldn't use varnish personally, it'll spoil the rustic look of the wood.
 
I agree, i actually don't mind them as they are, but my wife is really against them. Maybe instead of a clear varnish as i was going to use i might pick up a tin of a slightly coloured varnish and put that on and see how it looks. Worst case scenario i'll have spent about a tenner and once actually finished and fitted my wife might not be as bothered.

Otherwise i'll just leave it like that for months until she forgets about it :D
 
For less than £40 (maybe I misunderstand) I would get a piece of planed oak, cut it to size and finish with Osmo worktop oil, or something similar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom