Top 8 Best Wood Filler For Large Holes and Gaps

Assuming you have teenage kids who love doing what kids know how to do best: “playing all the time.”

Or you, as an adult, makes the mistake of breaking your favorite household fixtures and pieces of furniture.

This breakage most times leaves the item with large gaps and deep holes. That’s where the best wood filler comes in. It helps you save costs and preserve your precious and favorite home edifices.

I have reviewed what to look out for when buying the best wood filler for large holes and gaps and answered the necessary questions you might have in mind. Enjoy your read.

Our Top Picks

Best Wood Filler For Large Holes and Gaps

1. Best Overall Wood Filler – DAP 543 Series 00543 Qt Natural Plastic Wood-X
2. Best Long Lasting Wood Gap Filler – Gorks Goodfilla
3. Best Exterior Wood Filler for Large Holes – Pc Products Epoxy Wood Filler
4. Best Water Based Filler – Elmers Carpenters Wood Filler
5. Best All-purpose Wood Filler for Large Holes – Bondo Wood Putty
6. Best Non Crack Wood Filler – Red devil 0542 Spackling Wood Filler
7. Best Polyester Wood Filler – Minwax 21600000
8. Best Budget Wood filler – Woodwise Powdered

Types of Wood Fillers Suitable for Large Holes

Latex Fillers

Latex fillers are perfect for covering up small holes or refinishing wood cabinets and any wooden trim. When you redecorate your house or move into a new home, you find holes in hooks, pictures, or paintings that hang on the wall.

When choosing latex fillers, have it in mind that these fillers are mainly for cover-ups. They don’t have structural integrity.

They might crack or sink if you force them into large holes. The good thing about latex fillers is that they come in various colors and are primarily water-based.

2 Part Epoxy Fillers

If you want something more durable, consider epoxy fillers. Unlike latex, this type of filler can bind itself to the surface firmly and extend to form the missing chunk of wood.

So, using epoxy wood filler for large holes, you can drill, sand saw, paint or shape the filler. The material is a bit like dough before and after it dries.

You can mold it how you want. However, the appearance is a little “plastic and may look distinct from the rest of the item. But that’s nothing a good paint can’t handle.

Filling large holes in wood with epoxy

Fill huge holes in wood with epoxy by pouring it into the voids, gaps, and knots.

Typically, epoxy is just a mixture of wood pulp and polyester making it easy to handle. Make sure to fully or somewhat overfill the holes.

Wipe the epoxy with a clean cloth, and then use sandpaper to smooth it out and level it with the rest of the wood surface. Epoxy should not come into contact with your skin.

Polyester Paste

The polyester paste is like a two-part epoxy. While most commonly used in repairing holes in car bodies, you can also use it for large gaps and holes in wood. 

Like epoxy, the polyester paste can withstand drilling, sanding, and painting.

However, it’s much less flexible when applied. For one, it requires a wood hardener and a resin which can be toxic. So, exercise caution when applying them with a brush.

On the other hand, it can harden quickly within 15 minutes, at least, so make sure it’s in the shape you desire before then. 

Powdered Fillers

If you want a quality filler for surface damage, consider powder fillers. Powder fillers are a mixture of sawdust and wood shavings, and it becomes a “paste” once mixed with water.

They are best used for mammoth projects. Remember, “surface damage” is the working phrase here.

Powder fillers can’t withstand drilling or any kind of heavy impact after it dries. They are wood particles, so they lack structural integrity. Some brands have hardeners to create more strength in their wood fillers.

However, don’t assume it’s enough for heavy impact. There isn’t any specified drying time; it depends on how much powder filler you used.

Homemade Wood Fillers

Homemade fillers are the traditional way of creating the right wood filler. Like powdered fillers, you can use sawdust and mix it in with white wood glue. Make sure you use equal parts until paste forms. 

When making your homemade filler, try to get the same wood species as the damaged wood for your sawdust. That way, it can match up the color easily. 

It can also shrink, so it needs your complete attention to ensure it’s at its best.

Spackling Paste

Spackling paste is a type of putty made up of gypsum plaster composed of glue and calcium sulfate. Gypsum plastering is an environmentally friendly alternative to sand and cement.

It’s ideal for repairing minor interior wood defects such as large cracks and holes in drywall, baseboards, and trims. It dries hard, so the finish is consistent.

You can sand and paint the spackling on wood as you wish. It’s made with natural wood, so it accepts paint and stain very well.

Cellulose Wood Putty

A putty is a premium option for those who want to fix up cracks and holes. For one, it has natural wood! It won’t have a problem with shrinkage like other wood filler options do.

However, it does have its limits with how much it can cover. Anything more than 3/8-inch isn’t advisable. Aside from that, you can sand, paint, and wood stain putty after it hardens.

Related Post: Does Wood Putty Harden?

Acrylic Caulk with Silicone

Another great option is acrylic caulk with silicone. It’s the best exterior wood filler for large holes as it’s moisture resistant.

During application, it stays flexible and sticks to the surfaces quickly. It comes in different wood grain colors to match the paint and wood tone.

Factors to Consider When Buying Best Wood Filler For Large Holes and Gaps

Quantity

How much wood filler should you buy can be a tricky question? The best solution is to base it on your job. 

If you are a professional woodworker, buy a wood filler that comes in bulk packaging. This way, you know you have something ready for edges, gouges, and large gaps and deep holes. 

If you are buying wood fillers for little damage in your home, like nail hole fillers or claw marks. A small quantity from 16-30 OZ containers should be enough. 

Generally, if you can get large bags of powdered filler, they have a longer shelf life, so it’s an investment!

Plus, you can make the amount needed instead of potentially wasting extra fillers. 

Drying time

There’s no uniform drying time for each product.  Each product takes a different time to dry to a solid wood surface that can be worked on. 

For smaller tasks, look for a solution that takes 15-30 minutes to cure. For more significant projects, look for a solution that allows you to dilute the product to keep it from drying out before application.

You should plan ahead by checking out the hardening times of the products before you purchase them so that the product doesn’t start drying during application.

Size

The size of wood filler to purchase is dependent on the magnitude of the project you have at hand. If you have a large project, it’s advisable to buy a large can to save cost.

Also, to avoid purchasing large cans and throwing away any excesses, buy water-based wood filler that is weather and temperature tolerant.  

Powder vs. Paste

Using powder and paste solution has its different merit and demerit. To save time, use the paste solution as it comes in handy. Being a ready-made mixture. You can apply as you like! 

If you are short of time or need a quick fix, consider the paste solution. However, you have to be fast in your application. As it dries out quickly, leaving your work messed up

As against paste solutions, powdered wood fillers give you control over your work time. You can mix large or small amounts of fillers without worrying, and you can leave powdered fillers idle for a long time and not be worried about them drying out. 

As always, it’s best to consider the magnitude of your project. A larger, commercial task will be better off with a bulk powdered package, while a small crack or holes will require a small filler paste tube or can. 

You can also use a 3D printer to 3D print wood, and then fill in holes and gaps with exacting precision.

Best Wood Filler For Large Holes and Gaps – Product Reviews

1. Best Overall Wood Filler – DAP 543 Series 00543 Qt Natural Plastic Wood-X

Dap 543 wood filler is the best filler for deep holes. It’s advanced resistant, weatherproof, and waterproof.

It Adheres well to cracked concrete, rusted iron fence, and will of the door trim. Dap is your all-around product for any type of wood repair, especially ones with large gaps or deep holes.

Use on metal, composite, PVC, fiber cement, wood, and more. This wood hole filler is fast-acting, so you will need to apply it quickly.

Also, you do not have to worry about washing off if it is raining or if the filler has not dried. While this product is resistant to weather, it can be used indoors and outdoors. 

What We Liked Most

• It provides a repair that is 3X more substantial than the wood itself
• It has a fast-acting formula
• It’s excellent for structural repairs
• It covers chips and gouges while anchoring screws and nails
• It dries very quickly

What Could Be Improved

• It is difficult to spread
• It challenging to clean

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2. Best Long Lasting Wood Gap Filler – Gorks Goodfilla

As any woodworker will attest to, they throw hardened wood filler out all the time. But Goodfella offers an unlimited shelf life since it reconstitutes with water.

Goodfilla is the most innovative, easy-to-use, water-based wood filler for large gaps and deep holes. It’s designed for professional woodworkers but perfect for your everyday DIYer, too.

You can Sand, stain, tint, prime, fill and seal every knot on your to-do list. If it eventually dries out, you can add a little water.

What We Liked Most

• It’s perfect for big jobs 
• It is available in varieties of colors and sizes
• It has an unlimited storage life
• Its environment friendly and contains no toxic materials
• You can sand, paint or stain it

What Could Be Improved

• It leaves a yellow tint
• It has a slightly watery texture

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3. Best Exterior Wood Filler for Large Holes – Pc Products Epoxy Wood Filler

PC-Woody is an epoxy paste formulated to replace missing and rotted woods. It’s the best filler for large gaps and deep holes. This epoxy filler is made from natural wood and has many characteristics of wood.

The PC-Woody formulation provides extended working time for large and critical jobs, allowing the user time to apply or make changes.

Filling large holes in wood with epoxy offers structural strength that’s greater than most wood.

What We Liked Most

• Pc-Woody can be used for interior and exterior applications.
• The high tack helps reduce drips and sags while hardening
• It can be painted, stained, and machined after being fully cured
• It has excellent resistance to all weather elements

What Could Be Improved

• It takes time to set up before you can mold it
• It doesn’t work well in small gaps
• It does not bond to wax paper, Teflon, Polyethylene, and some other plastics.

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4. Best Water Based Filler – Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood Filler

Elmers water-based wood fillers are shapable like putty, it’s smooth, workable, dries fast, and sands well – and it comes in an utterly mickey-mouse container.

The quantity is perfect for large gaps and deep holes, so these water-based wood fillers help you save time and money. Note, you shouldn’t apply the filler over painted surfaces. It is also the best filler for plywood edges.

What We Liked Most

• It is paintable and sandable.
• It Doesn’t shrink or crack away from the fill joints 
• It’s easy to work with

What Could Be Improved

• It is Not stainable 
• The Lid does not seal well

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5. Best All-purpose Wood Filler for Large Holes – Bondo Wood Putty

Bondo Home Solutions Putty is a version of polyester body filler for home use. It is a two-part product that uses a “hardener” to start the chemical curing process.

This putty is formulated for a tremendous range of home repairs requiring a permanent, fast-curing formula.

This two-part putty bondo wood filler mixes easily and cures fast. Always mix and apply with a plastic spreader and wear a disposable glove.

This fast-curing two-part filler allows you to make high-quality, long-lasting repairs to large gaps and deep holes on metal, masonry, concrete, painted wood, plastic, drywall, and more.

What We Liked Most

• It dries very quickly and is very hard.
• It is waterproof
• The leftover product remains viable for a long time. 
• It’s for indoor and outdoor use

What Could Be Improved

• The hardener that comes with the putty is too small. You might need to buy an extra tube to match the putty in the can.

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6. Best Non Crack Wood Filler – Red devil 0542 Spackling Wood Filler

Red devil one-time spackling wood filler is a pre-mixed formula for fast, professional repairs. One application can fill large gaps, deep holes, and holes in plaster, wallboard, wood, and stucco. 

While it does dry fast, it stays malleable for as long as you need it to if you have to make several passes or adjustments on an area of the wall.

In addition, “and I really love this about it,” if you apply too much on the surface or putty knife and some fall off, it doesn’t become embedded into the floor. It also resists cracking.

This wood floor filler for cracks stays in a clump and is very easy to simply pick up and discard without having to worry about leaving a mark or looking for a solution to clean it off.

What We Liked Most

• It doesn’t shrink, crack or sag
• It can be painted in a few minutes 
• It cleans up easily 
• It does not require sanding

What Could Be Improved

• The texture is muddy and tends to fall off during application.

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7. Best Polyester Wood Filler – Minwax Wood Filler 21600000

Minwax High-Performance 2-part wood filler is designed for structural damage repair to wooden surfaces that will be painted.

It works excellent in repairing large gaps, deep holes, door strikes, destroyed plates or stripped out large screws/carriage bolts that fall out, etc. 

It is stronger than wood. Unlike other fillers, it sticks to the interior wood excellent. When filling large holes, you can speed up the drying process by stuffing part of the gap with a small cutoff piece of wooden furniture.

Also, mix the filler and wood rot hardener in a smaller ratio to avoid wastage as it hardens within 3 minutes. Finally, make sure to overfill the area, that way, it will sand to a straight, smooth finish.

What We Liked Most

• It hardens in 3-minutes, sandable in 15-minutes.
• It Will not shrink, crack, or fall out.
• It Can be drilled, planed, carved, and screwed into
• It’s suitable for interior and exterior applications. 

What Could Be Improved

• The hardener is small compared to the quantity of the wood filler.

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8. Best Budget Wood filler – Woodwise Powdered

This environmentally friendly wood filler allows you to refill your container and eliminate unnecessary packaging and waste.

If you are someone who uses wood fillers daily, Woodwise Powdered Wood Filler is a cost-efficient option. It smoothly fills cracks, large holes, gaps, gouges, and broken edges.

It takes stains like hardwood and sands quickly. To use, mix in water with a mixer. It’s freeze-proof in its powdered form so that you can leave it in your truck year-round.

What We Liked Most

• Takes stain like hardwood!
• Bonds tightly, sands easily!
• Mix with water to preferred consistency
• Extreme shelf life

What Could Be Improved

• It can’t be drilled into 

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Wood Filler For Large Holes and Gaps Comparison Table

How to Use Wood Filler for Large Gaps

Here’s how to fill large gaps in wood fast and effectively

Things you will need:

• Putty knife
• Rag
• Wood filler
• 120-grit or finer sandpaper
• Can of spray finish (optional)
• Paintbrush or Roller

Step by Step process of filling large holes in exterior wood

Apply only to dry wood

Wait for wooden surfaces that have been exposed to moisture damage or weather to dry before you apply wood filler. If you apply filler over moisture-darkened wood, you’ll lock in the moisture, which could cause rot and will almost certainly cause the filler to fail.

Apply with a putty knife

You can use a putty knife to Fill larger cracks and defects. Draw the blade crossways across the wood grains to fill holes and cracks, then scrape along the wood grain to remove the excess filler. Clean up with a rag.

Use stainable filler if you’re planning to stain

Check the container to ensure the wood filler is stainable. Most latex fillers and solvent-based products that contain wood dust are stainable, while Epoxy wood fillers are not.

Let It dry, then sand lightly

Use 120-grit or sandpaper to sand off the excess filler after it has dried. A file or rasp may be necessary for epoxy fillers. It’s best to sand by hand to avoid wearing a depression in the area you filled. 

Apply paint or finish

Paint the filler with a paint finish using a spray can or a paintbrush. This not only covers the wood repair and helps it to disappear, but it also protects the filler and makes it last longer.

FAQs

Why use wood filler for large holes?

The answer is simple. We use wood filler for large holes and gaps to save cost. Wood fillers literally fill the cracks, holes, gouges, grooves and make the surface look like it never had any damage. Exterior wood filler helps preserve that valuable edifice of yours that broke, and you wouldn’t want to dispose of it because it’s precious.

Filler vs. Putty vs. Epoxy

Wood filler vs. wood putty vs. epoxy is a couple of everyday items you can use to fix defects or repair mistakes. It’s essential to know the differences between these, so you don’t end up using the wrong thing for your gaps or large holes repairs.

Wood filler: wood filler is a substance that can be used to fix wooden objects. Exterior wood fillers are usually water-based. The different types of fillers are epoxy, latex, polyurethane, etc.

The wood filler can be sanded and is typically used for unfinished wood. Wood fillers are best used on woodworking items that will remain indoors.

The benefits of using wood filler are quick-drying, suitable for a large gap or deep holes depending on epoxy or polyester paste, and ideal for porous surfaces. 

Wood putty: A putty is a good option for fixing up large gaps and holes. For one, it has natural wood! It won’t have a problem with shrinkage like other fillers, and wood putty is often oil-based.

Wood putty can be used with projects for any type of environment. Wood putty has a clay-like consistency, so you shouldn’t mix it with water.

Also, when using wood putty, you should use it on finished surfaces. The chemicals it contains are not suitable for use on raw wood.

Epoxy: Epoxy is a type of wood filler. Epoxy comes in 2 parts, the powdered form and the hardener for mixing it. This two-part product is the most structurally strong of all the fillers.

It sets harder than the wood itself and can actually prevent cracks from widening. It has a plastic-like appearance when it dries, so it should be painted.

The benefit of using epoxy is that it creates a very tight bond, a strong seal, is super weather and temperature resistant, and is very permanent.

Related Post: Can You Pour Epoxy Over Cured Epoxy

How to make your own wood filler (DIY Solution)

For the DIY enthusiast that likes the thrill of trying something new, making your own wood filler is relatively easy. Homemade wood filler is a mixture of sawdust mixed with white wood glue or water.

Make sure you mix it thoroughly until paste forms. Again, it’s essential to use the same wood species as the damaged wood for your sawdust.

That way, it can match up the wood color. Note: too much white glue can make the end product white, too! 

Now that you know how to make your own filler, let’s learn how to fill wood holes.

How do I get the exact color of the wood I want?

To get the exact color of wood, look for the products that have the fitted color of your wood. Most products come with a range of color choices. Also, most solutions have the “stainable” label. This means that you can stain the surface to the shade you most prefer.

Can wood fillers be drilled into?

The answer is yes and no. some wood fillers like epoxy and polyester paste can withstand being drilled into. Still, fillers like latex, putty, and homemade fillers cannot resist being drilled into.

How big of a gap can wood filler fill?

Wood fillers can fill large gaps and deep holes irrespective of size. That’s why you are advised to buy a number of products that can complete your work and not leave you stranded halfway through. Powdered wood fillers that come in big bags are suitable for big jobs and have a long shelf life.

How long should I wait before sanding wood filler?

This depends on how long it takes the product you are using to cure or dry. We already know that wood putty takes quite a long time to dry than wood filler. Wood filler takes around 15-20 minutes before it is dry and ready to be sanded. If you’re fixing a large hole, it may take a little longer. While wood putty takes several hours and, in some cases, up to 24 hours before it dries.

Can wood fillers be used to repair scratches?

Yes. You can apply a generous amount of wood filler on the affected area and then remove the excess. Afterward, sand it to get rid of the lumps and achieve an even and smooth finish. A tube or a small can of wood filler should be enough for this purpose.

How do I stop wood filler from drying out? 

The best way to stop a wood filler from drying out is to check the product and ensure you buy the one that has a long shelf life. Wood fillers like powdered fillers and water-based fillers have a longer shelf life than their counterparts. But they dry faster during application. 

Related: Best wood filler for outdoor use

What is the Best Wood Filler for Large Gaps?

There are different types of wood fillers in the market. As detailed in my reviews, large holes and gaps can benefit from wood fillers like epoxy, powder fillers, and Acrylic caulk with silicone filler.

These three are sandable, stainable, paintable, don’t quickly dry out, and can be drilled into, which are the significant characteristics of a Good wood filler.

Other types of wood fillers like Spackling paste, wood putty, and polyester paste are still good options. Still, they dry out quickly, shrink, and require reapplication.

Latex filers are best for small cracks and holes. Finally, check your budget, as this will determine what wood filler you can afford or not.

I hope you find this piece helpful in your search for the best wood filler for large holes and gaps.