Wood filler is used to repair chips, scratches, gouges, and many other surface imperfections of our loving woodworks and make them fresh as new again.
Wood filler has the ability to fill holes and cracks by hardening on the surface and maintaining the wood integrity.
There’re some occasions you’ll need to nail and screw the area after filling a hole or crack using wood filler. So, let’s talk, Can you screw into wood filler?
Yes, You can screw into wood filler when dry. But wood filler only supports small screws and large screws that carry heavy loads and stress destroy the dimensional strength of wood filler. Epoxy Wood fillers can hold a screw. But wood fillers cannot bear loads.
But there’s more to know.
In this article, we’ll explore can you screw into wood filler and can wood filler hold a screw.
Furthermore, we’ll discuss how to screw into wood filler, and I’ll answer some frequently asked questions about can you screw into different types of wood fillers such as Ronseal, epoxy, and DAP plastic.
Let’s get started.
My pile of wood now resembles a stool. Just need to fill the screw holes with wood filler, sand down more, paint or stain. May even add a padded top. 👍🪚🪛🔨📐 pic.twitter.com/1BXFynZXrV
— Mark Fairbrace (@FairbraceM) January 26, 2022
Can Wood Filler Hold a Screw?
Yes, wood filler can hold a screw. Once the wood filler is cured well you can screw it with a small pilot hole.
Wood filler cannot hold load or stress. It can only hold small screws that carry a very small amount of load or stress.
Heavy load or stress changes the dimensional strength of wood filler and destroys the wood filler.
Therefore, wood filler does not support well to hold large screws that carry stress and load.
When the wood filler is completely dried and cured you can drill a screw or nail to the preferred area without any issue because of the great flexibility of wood filler has.
Tip: If the hole was stripped out of a screw or it is in a hinge mortise, it’s not a good thing to fill the hole using wood filler.
because it’s like filling the wood using particleboard which is incompatible with wood and unable to hold a screw so well.
If you want to fill up stripped-out screw holes or the screw hole in hinge mortise, better to stick with bamboo skewers, toothpicks, or wooden match sticks.
Dip them in wood glue and jam until they fit in the hole. Set them deep into the wood by leaving the ending surface of the mortise and trimming off flush with the surface once the glue is completely set up.
After that, the surface is ready to hold any kind of large or small screw. Predrilling is recommended for good screwing and to prevent the wood from splitting.
Apart from that, it is totally fine to use wood filler to fill up small holes and cracks which doesn’t apply any load or stress.
Most of the wood fillers hold screws so well.
Among different types of wood fillers, Epoxy wood fillers outstand from others in terms of their screw holding ability.
Protip: If your screw is too big for the hole you’re trying to screw it into:
— I’m a sleepy boi (@SleepyBoi2297) August 11, 2020
Stick toothpick into hole and break it off
Put wood filler in hole
Wipe away excess and let dry. This will create a plug.
Put screw into plugged hole.
Can You Drill Wood Filler?
Yes, you can drill wood filler once it’s fully dried and cured. Two-part epoxy wood filler and multipurpose wood fillers prevent occurring cracks during the drilling process.
When you’re drilling the wood filler to hold screw make sure to consider the depth of the hole. Because sometimes when you drill too deep, that’ll ruin the project.
So, before drilling the wood filler to hold the screw make sure to have a good idea about how deep should you drill to hold the screw tightly.
Follow the below table to get an idea about the perfect depth you should screw into wood filler to prevent cracking.
| Drilling Depth of Wood Filler | Wood Type |
| ¼’’ | Large pieces of firm hardwoods like Oak |
| ½’’ | Medium-firm woods like Fir |
| 5/8’’ | Medium-firm woods like Cherry |
| 1’’ | Softwoods like Cedar |
Little old ass lumber, little elbow grease, smidge of wood filler and stain…next we’ll throw on some lacquer and drill holes and eventually we’ll throw it up in my new office for a shelf 😁 pic.twitter.com/9mGfF5KljD
— Govneh Jalapeño, Centrifugal Turkey Kicker (@_TheRussian) October 27, 2019
Types of Wood Filler you Can Screw Into
There’re many available options of wood fillers in shops, but you have to find out which type of wood fillers are best that can screw into without ruining the project.
| Types of Wood Filler | Can You Screw Into? |
| Two-part epoxy wood filler | Yes |
| Simple wood filler | No |
| Multipurpose wood filler | Yes |
| Exterior wood filler | Yes |
As you can see two-part epoxy wood filler, multi-purpose wood filler, and exterior wood fillers are the best options you can screw into.
Among those options, I personally recommend a two-part epoxy wood filler because of its high dimensional strength and flexibility to hold the screw so well.
Almost gave up on this door’s layers of paint peeling back from the knob. Too difficult to sand ridges smooth enough . But some Peel Stop, wood filler + two-part epoxy, & sanding made her smooth again. Will roll subsequent layers of paint, but pretty happy about the outcome. pic.twitter.com/tr0x7SBxgX
— Jason Akinaka (@jasonakinaka) November 12, 2021
How To Apply Wood Filler to Hold a Screw?
When you’re applying wood filler to hold screws or nails need to follow the right technique for best results.
Drilling too deep makes the wood filler get cracks and damage the whole project.
First of all, there’re some requirements you need to have to make this succeed.
Requirements,
- Two-part epoxy wood filler with hardener (16:1 ratio)
- Putty knife
- Scrapers
- Sandpapers
- Mixing bowl
So, let’s find out what are the steps you need to follow when applying wood filler to hold a screw.
1. Surface Preparation
Before the application of wood, filler removes loose paint, loose wood chunks, and stains around the wood area you wish to work.
Light sanding is also recommended to get a nice and smooth surface and remove rough edges and corners.
After the sanding is done, take a clean cloth or rag and remove sawdust and debris in the area.
This will make the surface ready to take the wood filler effectively.
2. Prepare the Wood Filler
Then open the wood filler, take the necessary amount, and place it in a mixing bowl.
Then apply the hardener on top of the wood filler that is kept in the mixing bowl 16:1 ratio.
That means only a little amount of hardener is enough to mix with a large amount of wood filler that was taken to the mixing bowl.
After that mix them until the white hardener disappears.
When you feel wood filler and hardener are mixed well, you have 15 minutes according to the instructions to apply this material to the wood surface.
3. Apply the Wood Filler
Right after wood filler and hardener is mixed completely, take the putty knife, and start the application process to the area.
Press the wood filler into the cracked areas to fill the holes entirely.
Better to apply an excessive amount of wood filler to the holes because wood filler tends to shrink when they are drying.
So, little excess work as an allowance to fill up the entire surface.
Make sure to finish the application process within around 10 minutes because once it hit the 15-minute mark, the wood filler will start to dry and harden which will be so difficult to apply.
4. Allow Wood Filler to Dry and Cure
After the wood filler is applied correctly, let it dry and cure for 20 – 30 minutes to several hours.
If you live in a humid area, this can take even 3 – 4 hours. Patience is the key to getting the best results.
Weekend project: freaking huge floating shelves.
— Bruno Borges (@brunoborges) January 30, 2022
✅ Brackets
✅ Shelf boxes
✅ Sanded
✅ Wood filler
☑️ Sand again
☑️ Paint
☑️ Install pic.twitter.com/nWGB6wN6qS
5. Finishing
When the wood filler is completely dried and cured, you can apply any paint or stain to make it covered and match according to the other areas of the wood.
This is helpful to make the area as fresh as new and hide the wood filler patches.
6. Screwing into Wood Filler
After finishing the wood filler application, drying, and finishing process wait for around 24 -48 hours to screw into wood filler.
Before screwing into wood filler make sure to take,
- Perfect size of drill bit size according to the wood type.
- Suitable drill
- Screws
Make sure to apply Two-part epoxy resin before screwing into wood filler as discussed above. Because no other wood filler can hold screws well without cracking than two-part epoxy wood filler.
Better to start with a small drill to test the wood filler and better to make a pilot hole before drilling to screw so easily.
So, let’s answer some frequently asked questions about can you screw into wood filler from different manufacturers.
Can You Screw into Ronseal Wood Filler?
Yes, Ronseal wood filler is a multipurpose wood filler that won’t crack or shrink easily. Therefore, you can screw into Ronseal wood filler without any issue by following instructions.
Can You Screw into Dap Plastic Wood Filler?
Yes, Dap Plastic wood filler can be screwed. It provides strong anchoring to the screws without splitting.
Other than that DAP Plastic wood filler can cut, drill, sand, varnish, paint without any issue.
It is a multipurpose outstanding wood filler for any woodworking activity.
One thing you can try and I’ve been using it more often is Dap Wood Plastic Filler. It takes longer to dry, but the health risks are lower. It also doesn’t shrink and crack easily, and has a water clean up. pic.twitter.com/m10y8YOtjq
— Gimme Builds (@GimmeBuilds) May 12, 2019
Did I cover all you wanted to know about: Can You Screw into Wood Filler?
In this article we have deeply explored about can you screw into wood filler and how can you drill wood filler to hold the screws so well.
We have discussed, types of wood fillers that can take screw well without splitting and identified the drilling depth size for different wood types as well.
Most importantly, select the best wood fillers that can screw into and let it dry before the screwing process to get the best results.
The main purpose of wood filler is to fill up the holes and not to take drills or screws.
But you can screw multipurpose wood filler without splitting as an extra advantage. But make sure not to apply heavy load or stress to the area which can ruin the project.
Furthermore, we have talked about how to apply wood filler to hold a screw tightly by discussing each step in detail and answered some frequently asked questions about can you screw into wood filler from different manufacturers as well.
Hope you have gained pretty good knowledge about can you screw into wood filler and surrounding topics.
So, let’s jump into your next woodworking project like repairing surfaces using wood filler, and learn something new. Have fun!
