Filling In Nail Holes - Where Am I Going Wrong?

Hi,

This morning I filled in all the holes in the MDF skirting boards and architraves (in our laundry/toilet) with 3 types of filler. Yet when I rubbed most of them down this arvo, they all felt below the suface:?. Some of them had filler that was left on proud of the surrounding surface and others I did flush. On all of them though I had pressed in the filler to ensure the hole was filled up.

Can anyone tell me the trade secret(s) of filling in these type of holes so that when I rub them down in preperation for the undercoat, they will be LEVEL with the surrounding surface?.

Cheers
MH

You are using a sanding block and not just your fingers to hold the paper, I presume?

What filler are you using? Some fillers do shrink a lot on drying and you have to a second fill.

The sanding block is mandatory to get a good level finish.

The filler is sucking out moisture. Dampen the area first to compensate.

Thank you to all those who responded with their advice - much appreciated:2tsup:. I used 3 types of filler:-

Timbermate
Nordsjo
Maxi Fill

All of them shrunk:(. However having refilled them again last night and sanded them today they have now blended in with the surrounding. So in future I won't get cheesed off knowing it will take a couple of go's:wink:.

Cheers
MH