Woodpecker Damage Repair

Frank R. asked,

What’s the best way to fill wood on the outside of the house that’s been pecked by woodpeckers?   The holes are from quarter size to 4in size.

Hello Frank,

on: Woodpecker Damage Repair

For a permanent bond on wood siding I have had much success using body fillers such as bondo.

The home repair version is thicker than that used for automotive body repair so it does not sag out of the holes before it hardens.

Tips for using bondo to repair wood:

Chisel out the holes so that the back side is slightly larger than the front. This will prevent the repair form ever popping out.

and / or

If there is anything to nail or screw into behind the hole drive a couple of nails or small screws in the area to be repaired leaving the heads exposed enough for the bondo to lock onto. Be sure the nail or screw heads are in far enough to be below the finished face

Bondo should be forced into the hole to be repaired using a flat putty knife. Take care to fill all voids and apply enough to over fill the hole so it can be sanded back down to a smooth surface. It can be sanded when it is completely dry, but to save excess sanding monitor the curing process which only takes a few minutes. As it cures it will get continuously harder and at some point will be about the consistency of a bar of soap. At that point you can shave it down almost to finish size quickly and easily with a sharp wood chisel leaving only a minimum of sanding to reach the required size.

If you happen to cut too deep somewhere don’t worry. Often as you sand to finish size small air bubbles will be exposed leaving an uneven finish anyway. Just go back over any imperfection with a skim coat of bondo (after cleaning all the dust off) and re-sand for a perfect finish.

If your siding has a textured surface use a wire brush or scraping / cutting blades to mimic the texture while the bondo is at the soap hardness stage. Try different tools and texturing methods on a practice repair to prefect you technique.

This link will give you some insight into why woodpeckers are damaging your home and how to discourage them from doing more damage in the future.

http://woodshms.com/wp/woodpecker-damage…

Good luck

Tony

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