How to Repair Chipped Paint

Chipped paint on your house’s interior or exterior is not only an obstacle to painting, but it also poses a dilemma. Should you continue the chip and scrape the paint away or should you try to repair the chipped area?

In some cases, you can simply paint over the chipped area. Covering up old, peeling, or chipped paint with a fresh coat often does the job, but it will leave telltale rough edges. If you’d like the area to be perfectly smooth, though, you’ll want to repair the chipped paint. The fix works well for small areas of chipped paint and the cost is minimal.

Wood Putty vs. Latex Filler for Repairing Chipped Paint

Repair chipped paint by filling the depression with wood putty or latex filler. The product will be flush with the surface or slightly higher than the surface. The area is sanded down smoothly to match the rest of the surface. Finally, the repair and the surrounding area are primed and painted.

Not only is this method more attractive than painting over the chip, but it also protects the edges of the chip to prevent the paint from peeling away. Interior areas like baseboards, door casing, and window sills can be fixed this way. Exterior areas that are prone to chipping like around faucets, windows, or corners can be repaired, as well.

Wood Putty

Water-based wood filler is a lightweight product best for interiors. By contrast, oil-based wood putty is tough and exterior-appropriate. While wood putty is difficult to sand, this attests to its strength. Wood putty cannot be left uncoated in exterior applications; it must be coated.

If you are staining the repaired area to match the surrounding natural wood, use wood putty. Wood putty comes in a few basic wood-like colors, plus it can also be primed and painted.

Acrylic Latex Filler

Exterior acrylic latex filler cures to a hard finish. The finish is sandable. Acrylic latex filler, true to its name, has a waterproof plastic-like feeling. Most acrylic latex fillers are white.

Acrylic latex fillers are not to be confused with acrylic latex caulks, which are flexible, cannot be sanded, and are inappropriate for filling wood. DAP Platinum Patch is one brand of acrylic latex filler

If you plan to prime and paint the repaired area, choose acrylic latex filler since it does not have a wood-like appearance nor can it be stained.

Safety Considerations

Older homes, especially those built before 1978, may have been painted with lead-based paint. Lead-based paint has been proven through research to cause neurological damage. Lead is particularly harmful to pregnant women and to children. Test the paint for lead before you begin stripping or sanding it. If it does contain lead, have the paint removed by a qualified remediation company.