Rant: My brother told me to use wood glue on a cracked planter, now it's a mess

I had this big ceramic planter (like $40 from a nursery) that got a hairline crack after a freeze last winter. My brother, who builds furniture, swore wood glue would work since it's stronger than ceramic glue. I slapped it on, let it dry for 24 hours like he said, and then filled it with soil. Well, the glue held but the crack spread, and now water seeps out through a whole new split. He meant well, but his advice was totally off for my situation. Has anyone else had luck repairing cracked pots with something besides epoxy? I'm about to just toss this thing.

3 comments

3 Comments

harpery4714d ago

Dang, that sucks. I actually saw a post on another forum where a guy fixed a ceramic pot with clear marine epoxy and it held up for years, even through rain and snow. @jamesroberts is onto something about the moisture thing, wood glue just isn't made for that. Next time buy a two part epoxy from a hardware store, mix it really well, and clamp the crack tight for 48 hours.

the_miles13d ago

Hold on, I gotta disagree a bit. Marine epoxy works great for pots that stay outdoors but the 48 hour clamp time is overkill for a small crack, you can usually get away with 24. The real trick is roughening up the ceramic edges with sandpaper before you apply it, otherwise even good epoxy can just pop right off.

jamesroberts14d ago

Ha, wood glue for a PLANTER? That stuff needs to be dry to work, once soil and water get in there it just peels off. Epoxy is the only thing that'll hold up to moisture long term.