How do you repair cracked wood?

Pam Miller
by Pam Miller
Found this box on the side of the road for trash pickup and brought it home. It has a crack down the front in a piece of wood. What is the best way to fix this? Wood glue and clamps? Thanks!

  10 answers
  • William William on Feb 28, 2017

    Squeeze some wood glue into the crack and use a fine brush to spread it around. Clamp everything together and wipe of any glue squeeze out. Let it dry overnight.

  • Dfm Dfm on Feb 28, 2017

    if you don't wipe the glue off, the finish you put on it might not stick to that spot.

  • Kincaid99 Kincaid99 on Feb 28, 2017

    Besides the glue, sometime I use an L bracket on the inside to make sure it does not happen again, there definitely is a weak spot in the design, so maybe two L brackets inside on each leg if you plan sitting on the bench.

  • Florent Florent on Mar 01, 2017

    Definitly wood glue : enlarge a bit the crack with a flat screw driver, spread some wood glue in the crack and make sure to coat all the inside with a brush, eliminate the wood glue from the outside with a tissu first and with a slightly wet sponge, dry the outside with an other tissus, and then manage tu press the cracked area ideally with joint press or with anything you can think about until glue goes out of the crack. "Don't" remove it now, and let it dry completly. When it's dry, you can remove the excess glue with a sharp cutting tool, idealy wood cissor, or glass scratch tool, paying attention to the angle of the tool so that it won't remove the paint. Then, you can either leave it like that, or choose an other apropriate finish.

  • Shoshana Shoshana on Mar 01, 2017

    Great find! Do you have an idea yet what you're going to use it for?

    • See 1 previous
    • Shoshana Shoshana on Mar 02, 2017

       interesting. Well can't wait to see how it come out for you!

  • Lynn Lynn on Mar 01, 2017

    Wood glue, L-brackets & furniture clamps.

  • Pam Miller Pam Miller on Mar 01, 2017

    Thanks for your help!

  • Trudy Trudy on Mar 01, 2017

    I have one like that and it is a laundry hamper, but mine has no mirror.

  • Eloise Eloise on Mar 04, 2017

    If you type "how to repair cracked wood" into your search engine, a LOT of instructions appear, including YouTube videos, which I really like to view before starting a project such as this.

  • Laura Kackman Laura Kackman on Mar 04, 2017

    I agree with the above ideas. Please share pictures of what you decide to do with it!! Thanks and Good Luck!! 🙂