The 5 Best Wood Fillers For Hardwood Floors, Based On Reviews
Wood filler is a small miracle-in-a-tub that should be in every DIYer's arsenal. It has many uses including filling scratches in your wooden furniture, smoothing out the pores of wood pieces, and even filling gaps in old hardwood flooring. But as you may surmise from wood filler's plethora of uses, not all wood filler brands are created equal, and there are some versions of the material that suit certain tasks better than others. When looking at hardwood floors, in particular, there are a few standout wood filler options that are highlighted by consumers in their reviews across websites, including retailers like Amazon, Home Depot, and Lowe's.
There are some key characteristics you'll want to look out for in the right wood filler for your hardwood floors. First, you'll want to make sure the filler is compatible with the floor material you have in your home, both visually and functionally. You'll want the filler color to match the existing wood, or you'll need to get a stainable filler that can be made to match the tone of your floors. In terms of function, you should opt for a wood filler material that matches your floor's location and traffic — make sure you're working with something that works well for interiors, and if you're in a space that requires waterproofing or eventually will be painted over, choose your filler accordingly. Considering all of these observations, there are some easy DIY ways to make wood filler at home, but for those of us who like to leave it to the pros, these are the five best wood fillers based on reviews that'll keep your hardwood flooring looking like new.
Bondo Wood Filler
Bondo Wood Filler is a consumer favorite at Home Depot, raking in over 1,000 reviews and favorited by almost 4,000 Home Depot website users. Known largely for its fiberglass fillers for auto body repairs, Bondo has a certain knack for fixing things that have seen their fair share of life — and wood floors are no exception. The brand's wood filler is a paintable option that can be used for both interior and exterior applications, making it a good option for those whose hardwood floors see lots of action. It is a non-shrinking, permanent solution that is sandable and stainable, too.
Former customers from Home Depot applaud Bondo Wood Filler for its quick cure time and sanding ease, making it ideal for homeowners who need a fast solution to their repair woes. However, some consumers thought that the dry time may be a little too fast to be easily workable. Other users also cautioned that, though the product says it is stainable, it stains much better if you put a layer of primer on top of the filler first and apply the stain on top. Otherwise, the stain may not quite stick or lay down. Some reviewers on Amazon, where 3M Bondo Wood Filler has a 4.5-star rating with almost 3,000 reviews, also noted that the product is quite noxious and suggest wearing a mask during use or working in a well ventilated area. All in all, though, Bondo Wood Filler users expressed how they were pleasantly surprised that an auto repair materials manufacturer crafted such a workable product for home improvement.
DAP Plastic Wood Filler
DAP Plastic Wood Filler is another tried and true option at Home Depot, with a 4.2 star rating with over 5,000 reviews on the retailer's site. It comes in four different finishes, alleviating any staining concerns if you don't want to take the extra steps of matching color and staining. Some versions are packaged in an easy plastic tube for minimal mess, while others can be found in a more common plastic tub. It can be used as both an interior and exterior solution for flooring, meaning it will also hold up on highly used hardwood floors. As a latex-based filler, DAP Plastic Wood Filler is very practical for indoor use, and its ease of use — there's no mixing required, and it's easy to spread on surfaces — is a big plus for many customers.
Where DAP Plastic Wood All Purpose Latex Wood Filler may fall short, however, is its packaging. While some customers loved the squeeze bottle tube format to get the product out and onto their steps or floors, others had some bad luck with it. Customers noted that the tube could break under too much pressure, and others explained that the filler often dried out within weeks of first opening the bottle since it appeared the packaging couldn't seal the filler up enough to save it for longer periods of time. If this is a major concern, opt for the product in its tub packaging format. Overall, though, customers were happy using this filler, particularly for smaller spots and repairs on floors and in the home.
Minwax Stainable Wood Filler
The Minwax Natural Stainable Wood Filler has consistently stellar reviews across the internet, from Amazon to Lowe's. With a whopping 8,300 reviews on Amazon and a 4.4-star rating, Minwax is a user favorite. Another plastic filler, Minwax is meant to work with both oil-based and water-based stains, making it quite a versatile option that could be used on a variety of wood surfaces, including hardwood floors. But, unlike either DAP or Bondo, Minwax does take quite a long time to cure, up to six hours in some cases when the patch is deep, whereas Bondo boasts a 15-minute dry time. With that said, Minwax can provide fixes with longevity and tackle deeper issues in ways that a faster curing Bondo may not.
Minwax Wood Filler's stainability is one of the most frequent characteristics of the product that reviews highlighted, while other complimentary reviews noted how well the product performed on larger-scale floor fixes. This is where Minwax overtakes Bondo and DAP — customers believed that, against other wood fillers, Minwax was the best for hardwood floor projects since it could handle larger holes or gaps. Some reviewers did note that the texture of Minwax filler was gritty and didn't stain, but these reviews were few and far between compared to positive reviews that spoke to Minwax's quality assurance.
Elmer's Carpenter Wood Filler
This is not your elementary schooler's glue. Elmer's Carpenter's Interior Wood Filler is a popular and powerful solution to your hardwood floor gapping issues. An adhesive, water-based filler, this option from Elmer's has a 4.5-star rating with almost 4,000 reviews on Amazon — and an impressive 75% of those reviews are 5-stars. Customers who used Elmer's on their floors specifically highlighted the product's effectiveness in filling gaps between wood planks, mentioning that the filler works well in cracks or fractures, specifically, or to fill room perimeters and edges.
The biggest drawbacks that customers identified when using Elmer's for flooring, however, was the amount given in each 32-ounce product package. Perhaps, when using this filler on floors, the expectation may be that there is an adequate or excess amount of the product in a tub, but bear in mind that even those mild criticisms were made complimenting the effectiveness of the product itself. Some users also cautioned that there may be more product shrinkage than expected when applying this on flooring, resulting in DIYers having to use more product than initially expected. So, be cautioned that, when using this on larger holes or gaps in your floors, you may need an additional tub. But, in the end, most reviewers are extremely happy that they used Elmer's Wood Filler.
Gorilla All-Purpose Wood Filler
Topping our list and user reviews is Gorilla All-Purpose Wood Filler, a water-resistant product that's also said to be shrink and crack resistant. With a 4.4-star rating on Amazon with over 8,400 reviews, Gorilla Natural Wood Filler just edges out Minwax on review quantity for crowd favorite. Best suited for latex or oil-based stains, Gorilla Wood Filler is similar to Minwax in that it does take a bit longer to dry than other suggestions on this list, but it can be used on larger flooring projects. Reviewers confirm that the product doesn't shrink much after curing, so it's a great option for large holes and gaps in hardwood floors.
Where Elmer's was criticized for the amount of product in the package, Gorilla was praised for the quantity and the price. It's biggest issue is that the product initially doesn't feel very adhesive or sticky. If you're using the product on hardwood floors, however, this shouldn't be as much of an issue compared to using it on a wood wall, for example. It is softer than many other fillers, though, which means it works well with a putty knife, but may mean a little extra manual manipulation and coaxing to get it to perform the way you want it to. But, with all that in mind, it is one of the highest rated wood fillers on the internet today, making it a strong choice for your hardwood flooring repair projects.