Door Refinishing Project

This is a bit of a departure from what would be considered woodworking, but it was a home renovation type of project we did, with which we were very pleased and I thought I'd tell you about it in case anybody was wondering about this technique. You've probably heard of others who may have tried this or seen it on TV and wondered how does it turn out. Well have a look and if you're thinking of doing it, take my word,,, it's a snap!

If your home is anything like ours, it's probably got a lot of those old fashioned hollow-core wood doors that you see to the left. With a can of paint and a bit of the right molding, we turned all of our boring old doors, into comparatively elegant doors like the one you see to the right.

The first step is to remove and sand all your doors, but make sure you can tell which door goes back on which room - THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT SO MARK THEM SOMEHOW! We marked them on the bottom of the doors.

If you're wondering exactly where the moldings should be placed on the door, check out doors at your nearest home centre the next time you're there.

Once you've decided that, most of the hard work is done. Most doors are pretty much the same size. We had 6 doors exactly the same size so I cut all 12 vertical molding pieces and 12 horizontal pieces one after the other. The other door was a few inches narrower, so keeping the "molding to the door edge distance" the same, I cut the two shorter pieces plus the 2 additional vertical pieces.

The assembly-line technique is the best! With a very precise mitre box and a good back saw, you cut perfect 45 degree angles, apply glue to the molding and carefully position and apply it. I also used spiral finishing nails to hold the molding snug to the door while the glue dried. Use a nail set to sink the nails slightly into the molding and fill with wood filler. Sand lightly to remove the residue wood filler. Sand all your mitred corners lightly too, to get rid of any stray wood fibres from your cutting and you're ready to refinish your doors. We used a latex primer and then a good "one coat" latex semi-gloss ivory colour paint.

The choice of molding is probably one of the most crucial. However, any moulding should work out fine, as long as it's not too thick, so it doesn't protrude from the door that much. We used a finer symetrical molding which was just over 5/8" wide and about 3/8" thick, with the highest part in the middle.

We did 7 doors for just over $100.00 including all moldings and primer & paint,,,, you can get nice looking doors without paying "nice looking door" prices and the job is reasonably easy & quick.

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