Problems Using No More Nails as a Filler

[Michael D]

I've got some fairly big, but old cracks in my front room that I'm re-filling while decorating. A friend recommended a trick picked up from a decorator of using No More Nails as a 'deep' filler, and then using Painters Mate to finish it, on the grounds that it's quick and gives a good finish. I've never been able to get a good finish smoothing out Painters Mate in things like cracks so I decided to finish it off with Tetrion All Purpose Filler, instead of Painters Mate.

However after doing the 'deep' filling with No More Nails I read the instructions on the Tetrion Filler which said not to use the filler in a 'sandwich' between sealant and paint. I called Tetrion and they confirmed that in this context the No More Nails counts as a sealant (as it never truly dries & can therefore flex).

My question is what should I do now: hack out the No More Nails (& make the cracks worse) and then use filler or try & get to grips with using Painter's Mate for finishing or is there some other cunning trick that I'm missing?

Any help would be gratefully received.

Michael

[logized]

There are 2 types of that type of adhesive - water based and solvent based. No more nails is water based - so should dry solid. The other type is more rubbery (eg "Gripfill") and so does not dry as hard. I have used cheaper versions of the No more nails type of water based stuff (from Poundland) and found it good for penetrating deep into cracks to bond loose cracked plaster back to the brickwork before filling with patching plaster. If your plaster repairs look ok and secure - then why worry. I always find that deep cracks always re-appear again eventually anyway if the underlying cause is still there.

Dave

[stuart noble]

For the odd deep hole that you want to set quickly, 2 part car body filler. The bigger the mass, the faster it cures. Chunks of polystyrene packaging or foam pipe insulation are good for packing really deep cavities round door frames etc.

[Fitz]

I wouldn't agree with that. The solvent based stuff I've used has dried just as hard if not more so than the water based. In fact one of my 4 diy injuries was picked up from solvent based no more nails. I'd used it to stick some skirting on the wall and a small amount had dried to a sharp point sticking out from the top of the board. I went to run my fingers along the top to assess the smoothness of the finish and came away with a nice gash on my finger where the solidified no more nails had dug in and cut like a blade. Completely unexpected really.

Two of the other three injuries were cuts as well (the ceramic toilet roll holder which led to a casualty visit the worst). And I'm religiously careful with blades - I hate to think what sort of bits and pieces clumsy people lop off by accident.

-- Steve F

[[news]]

"stuart noble"

[bigcat]

I'd just give it time to dry thoroughly before painting.

NT

[stuart noble]

.

Just read the thing properly (oh, and and use a spellchecker if you're illiterate). Car body filler is great for the odd deep hole that has to be solid quickly. Maybe you need to fix to it or tile over it without hanging about waiting for it to dry. I didn't suggest combining foam and car body filler.

Yeah, yeah, well I'm talking about the times when you have one cavity to fill and you don't happen to have any spray foam about your person.

[[news]]

"stuart noble" illiterate).

I read it properly, I fly sans spellchekker to keep people like you mentally active.

bullders foam can be plastered over in about an hour, time enough for a cup of tea. Add to that the fact that foam is less expensive than car body filler and (if you're not a bodge artist like you) fire retardant foam is also available, your idea seems more like bad advice than a good idea.

whatever, it's your choice.

RT

[Arn]

replying to Fitz, Arn wrote: Cuts a routine occurrence for trades people, not the exception..