Howdy,

I have a lot of white painted crown molding in my eight year old house. Over the years some of this trim work has developed visible hairline cracks in the wood. I'm not talking about a straight-line gap or seam where two pieces come together in a corner due to sloppy miter cuts or workmanship--these are surface cracks in the trim piece itself, not near a joint.

What would be the best way to repair these cracks? Wood filler and then paint over? Caulk? Glazing compound?

Any tips on materials and methods would be greatly appreciated.

Use drydex spackle (pink colorchanging) to fill in the cracks. Let dry. Sand down smooth (220 Grit is good) leaving no residual spackle outside of the crack. Repeat if necessary. Let dry and paint. Depending on how aggressively you sanded you may want to prime and then paint.

Why is it cracking to begin with? I'd hate to do all that and not solve the problem.

I'd also be curious why the actual wood cracked. There's always wood filler and repainting with latex paint but it may crack again if they were bad to begin with.

Agjag06, thanks for the tip. As for why the wood is cracking, I'm not sure. I assume just settling of the house. The cracks didn't start showing up until about a year after the bad drought we had in the Brazos Valley.

Go to Lowes and purchase this



http://m.lowes.com/pd/Big-Stretch-10-5-oz-White-Paintable-Latex-Window-and-Door-Caulk/4411173

Caulk the cracks and let it dry a minimum 12 hours before touching up the paint.