Cracks and splits

Today I started gluing loose joints and cracks. Jayne over at Dainty Digs commented that she would use Gorilla Glue. R and I thought that was the best option also.

The loose joint in the above photo is one of many such joints that will need to be glued. The first step was to clean all debris (paint, dust) from the joint. To make it easier to clean and also glue, I pulled the joint apart. This particular joint is where the stile meets the top rail. Gorilla Glue is very thick and slow to flow out of the bottle. I put a little glue in the crevice and waited for it to run into the joint. I then repeated this until I noticed the glue dripping out of the back of the joint. I used a bar clamp to pull the joint together using paint sticks to protect the wood from the clamps.

I also glued a small crack in the wood piece that is screwed to the front of the stile where the two sashes overlap. I used a large C clamp to compress the split. I could have used paint sticks here to protect the wood but I didn't have to apply alot of pressure with the clamp.

Jayne reminded me that Gorilla Glue swells up as it cures so I fought the urge to wipe off any excess glue and will use a scraper to remove the glue after it hardens. We have had good results using Gorilla Glue. Just keep in mind, a little goes a long way. Also when it comes to price, it tends to cost slightly more than some of the other brands.

I had anticipated gluing last night when I came home from work. But thanks to our recent snowfall, my 1 hour drive turned into a 1 1/2 hour drive. When I pulled into the driveway at 330am I would estimate we had about 5 inches of snow. Don't even ask me about people who want to drive on the expressways during a snowfall but refuse to go over 30 mph and want to take their half of the road out of the middle. Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Time invested today 30 minutes. Total time invested so far 12 hours.