Obviously this is a matter of taste. If you like the look of toothpicks in the holes better than the holes, then that is the way to go. I would say it is a fair amount of work and you probably won't be making the boat look much different.

If you don't like the holes, you are much better off not making them. There must be dozens of different ways to clamp the strips instead of stapling or nailing them. It will take longer, but it will be more successful at eliminating the holes than trying to fill them after the fact.

> Has anyone out there taken the time to fill in staple holes. I am about to
> glass my Expdition Single but the staple holes in the deck keep staring me
> in the face. I started to fill the largest of them with tooth picks and
> sanding them flush. You can fill quite a lot of holes quickly this way but
> I think the endgrain may darken more than the surrounding wood. Anyone
> have luck with this process.

> I also read somewhere that you could wet down the holes and iron it to
> make the holes swell closed. This souned like it might work but I didn't
> think it would be good for the glue joints.

> I know that the holes are not too visiable once you are done but I thought
> the tooth pick trick might be a way of getting a better finish on the
> deck. I certainly don't think individually filling each hole with filler
> is worth the time.

> Any ideas?

> Jack