PIY Pointers: How to fix a paint chip

Remember this little guy? Jeanette commissioned me to paint for her  and the result was the Midnight Blue Dresser she picked up a few weeks back. 

Sadly, there was a mishap while she was bringing it into her house and the result was a large chip that ran right through the finish, paint and primer to the wood.  Ouch!  So she brought the drawer back to me for a repair job.  I originally contemplated sanding down the spot and touching up the paint, but due to the thickness of the chip, that would leave obvious marks.  So I decided to use wood filler to fix the chip and here's what I did.

You'll need:
-chipped furniture
-wood filler
-filling knife or flat scraper
-sanding sponge
-primer, paint and finish

1. Apply a coat of wood filler over the chip, using your filling knife or flat scraper to smooth it out. Allow to dry fully, 1-2 hours.

2. Using a sanding sponge, sand off the excess wood filler to leave a smooth surface. Wipe down with a cloth to get rid of the dust.

3. Paint a coat of primer over the chip area, making sure to go bigger than the area to make it less noticeable. Allow to dry, approximately 1 hour and repeat a second coat. Primer is used because paint does not adhere well to the wood filler, it needs the adhesion layer that primer provides to create a bonded surface.

4. Lightly sand your primed area with a sanding sponge for smoothness, then repeat the process with your paint colour. Allow ample drying time then paint a second coat.

5.  Complete your fix by adding two coats of finish over the area, I went over the entire drawer with finish for a seamless topcoat.  Then you are done!

Hopefully you don't have to fill a chip this bad on a newly painted project but it happens, so better to know what to do!

For other painting pointers, you can check out my full page of painting tutorials and tips here...

Have a lovely day friends!