Wood filler for pergola restoration

[Jekkil]

Hi all,

I'm about to embark myself in another DIY project. This time I am trying to restore my pergola.
It is quite an old one that was probably never maintained since it was built.
It is painted and has some pretty large cracks.

The steps I was thinking were:
1. Sand it to remove as much paint as possible
2. Fill in the gaps with some filler
3. Apply primer
4. Paint it

The question is: what is, in your opinion, the most suitable filler for this kind of project? I am looking for something that is flexible to accomodate wood movement, durable so that I won't need to redo the job in a few years, suitable for outdoor use and not too complex to apply. A not too expensive product would be a bonus. Something that I can find at Bunnings would be another bonus.

THanks for any suggestion :)

Cheers

[Jim Carroll]

Builders Bog will fix all this for you

[Jekkil]

Builders Bog will fix all this for you

Thanks Jim!
Do you think that this will work also? Earl'''s MulTfill Ready To Use Filler - 0.140kg White - Bunnings Australia (https://www.bunnings.com.au/earl-s-multfill-ready-to-use-filler-0-140kg-white_p1661244?region_id=116224&gclid=Cj0KCQiA37KbBhDgARIsAIzce15uHBQPG1XTHo1rC0hM4Yx4l147ByrNcYUsOlZEkV4InT8v_l1gcEMaAh5lEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)

I used their interior wood filler and it always worked great for me...

[Jim Carroll]

Have never used that product.
The builders bog works for me every time.

[markharrison]

Have never used that product.
The builders bog works for me every time.

What Jim said!

You can do a lot of shaping with a sharp chisel before it goes completely off. This saves a lot of time.

Be sure to dig out any rot back to solid timber first. Or you can use some of the wood hardeners that you can also get in Bunny's. I've never used it but I understand it does work.

[Jekkil]

Is it epoxy based?

[markharrison]

Is it epoxy based?

IIRC, it's polyester resin.

[crowie]

Turbo 500ml Builders Bog - Bunnings Australia (https://www.bunnings.com.au/turbo-500ml-builders-bog_p1212026)

That's the one I've used with good success...