Wood repair, answered.

Knot Filler is Wood Repair's hot-melt filler. You melt it into the damage with a Knot Filler gun, it hardens in seconds as it cools, and you cut and sand right away. It repairs knots, cracks, splits, edges and corners in sound wood: floors, furniture, stairs, doors, windows and glulam, indoors and out.

Match the filler to the darkest tone in the grain, not the lightest. A fill that's a touch darker reads as natural grain, a lighter one reads as a patch. We stock nine colors, from White to Black. Pine, Oak, Walnut and Black, the four colors in the mix bag of both PRO kits, make a good starting set.

Yes. Once the repair is cut flush and sanded, it accepts oil, lacquer, stain and paint. But Knot Filler isn't wood, so it doesn't soak up stain the way the wood around it does, and stain changes the wood's color more than the filler's. So stain a scrap of the same wood first and match the stick to that finished color, not to the raw board. If you land between two colors, take the darker one. Wood Repair recommends testing your finish before every job, because woods and finishes vary.

The battery you already own. The WR 540 PRO Cordless gun runs on 18V packs through a Wood Repair adapter for DeWalt 20V MAX, Makita 18V LXT, Milwaukee M18, Bosch 18V or Ryobi 18V ONE+. Choose your brand when you order the PRO Cordless Kit and the matching adapter comes in the box. Run time depends on your battery's capacity, and the gun switches itself off when it isn't in use, so it won't drain the pack.

Go by the label on the Knot Filler bag. The WR 180 gun in the Plus+ Kit runs at a fixed 374°F (190°C). The WR 360 in the PRO Kit has a thermostat from 284 to 446°F (140 to 230°C), the cordless WR 540 a dial from 212 to 410°F (100 to 210°C). Warm-up takes about 2 to 3 minutes on the WR 360, 5 on the WR 540 and 7 on the WR 180.

Wood Repair recommends one of two ways. Keep a separate gun for each color you use a lot, or push the old color through: trim the stick in the gun as short as you can, feed the new color in behind it and keep going until the old color is out. Press the leftover into new sticks with the Knot Filler Saver, which comes with every kit. Never pull a stick back out of the gun, it damages the melt chamber.

Never pull a stick back out. Never lay the hot gun on its side or point the nozzle up until it has cooled, keep it standing upright. Seal the stick bag after use, masking tape works. And mind your fingers: the nozzle and the melted filler are hot enough to burn.

No. The gun is a one-time buy, after that you only reorder the stick colors you use. Knot Filler comes in bags of 9 sticks about 12 inches long (300 mm) or Compact bags of 8 sticks about 6 inches long (150 mm), all 12 mm (about 1/2 inch) thick.

In seconds. Melt the filler in, press the cooling iron or brick on it, and cut off the excess as soon as the cooling tool lifts off cleanly. Then sand and finish right away, there's nothing to wait for.

Yes. Knot Filler is water-repellent, stays flexible and copes with temperature swings, and Wood Repair rates it for indoor and outdoor use.

Knot Filler is solvent-free: it sets by cooling, not by releasing solvents, and Wood Repair describes it as non-toxic. Wood Repair confirms it complies with IKEA's IOS-MAT-0054 test specification, which screens for bisphenol A, cadmium, lead, organotin and phthalates. The part to respect is the gun, which runs hot.

DRY FLEX is Repair Care's two-component, elastic epoxy repair compound. It rebuilds rotten or damaged wood that has to keep moving and weathering: windows, doors, fascias, stairs and furniture, inside and out. Once cured, you can plane, saw, drill, screw, sand and paint it like wood. It also bonds to masonry, plaster, concrete and metal.

DRY FLEX SF is the fine filler for small, shallow repairs. DRY FLEX 4 is the fast all-rounder: it fills up to 3/4 inch deep at 50 to 95°F and up to 2 inches at 32 to 50°F. DRY FLEX 16 is for large repairs with a long working time, up to 2 inches deep, applied at 50 to 95°F. DRY FLEX 4 and 16 need at least 3/16 inch (5 mm) of depth to stay fully flexible.

Yes, for DRY FLEX 4 and 16 it's what makes the repair bond. Cut out all rotten wood first, because DRY FIX UNI is a primer, not a wood hardener. Mix it, brush it on, let it soak in for 20 to 45 minutes and blot off what hasn't soaked in. Then apply DRY FLEX within 24 hours, while the primer is still tacky.

DRY FLEX SF and DRY FLEX 4 come in 2-in-1 cartridges for the EASY•Q Professional Dispensing Gun, and SF also fits a standard caulking gun. DRY FLEX 16 A+B comes in two separate tubes and needs the EASY•Q High Performance Double Dosing Gun.

At 68°F, about 30 minutes for DRY FLEX SF, 4 hours for DRY FLEX 4 and 16 hours for DRY FLEX 16, going by Repair Care's figures for a typical repair. Cold, humidity and thicker fills take longer; at 41°F, SF needs about an hour. Sand lightly before painting, which also removes the waxy film epoxy forms on the surface as it cures.

Yes, it's made for exterior joinery and can be used all year round. Apply it in dry weather, with air and surface above 32°F (50°F for DRY FLEX 16) and no condensation on the wood. Outdoors, always paint over the cured repair: like all epoxies, DRY FLEX darkens and can craze in sunlight.

DRY FLEX and DRY FIX UNI are epoxy-based and classed as skin irritants. Wear nitrile gloves, add eye protection where needed, and follow the safety data sheet. We stock EASY•Q nitrile gloves.

Wood Repair and Repair Care. We are an authorized US distributor of both brands and carry each as a complete system: Knot Filler with the guns and kits, and DRY FLEX with DRY FIX UNI and the EASY•Q tools. Everything is stocked in our Virginia warehouse and ships from there. We add more professional wood repair brands over time.

Orders over $99 ship free within the contiguous US (the lower 48 states and Washington, D.C.). For orders of $99 or less, and for all orders to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, you pay the UPS rate shown at checkout. Orders to Canada ship via DHL, with shipping, duties and taxes calculated and paid at checkout, so nothing is due on delivery.

Orders leave our Virginia warehouse within 1 to 2 business days. Orders placed after 11 AM ET, or on a weekend or holiday, count from the next business day. With UPS Ground, delivery then takes about 1 to 2 business days to Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Delaware, 2 to 3 to the rest of the eastern US, 3 to 5 west of the Mississippi and typically 3 to 7 to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. UPS Ground Saver takes 1 to 2 business days longer. You get a tracking number by email as soon as your order ships.

To all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Canada. We can't ship to APO/FPO/DPO military addresses or to US territories other than Puerto Rico at the moment. All the details are in our Shipping Policy.

You have 30 days from delivery to return items that are new, unused and in their original packaging. For safety reasons we can't take back opened Knot Filler sticks or used guns. Email us with your order number before sending anything and we'll send return instructions. Return shipping is on you, unless we sent the wrong item or it's defective. The details are in our Return and Refund Policy.

Yes, anywhere in the US. Buying for a crew or a shop, or want to resell? Get in touch through our Contact page and we'll set you up.