Paint

[Byron Trantham]

I built raised panel doors out of poplar. I used Fuhr high white varnish for the finish. The client changed her mind and wants raised panel overlay doors - new concept for me. That's the bad news. Now the good news because of the delay in delivery I found out the paint cracked from wood movement where the raise panel inserts int its grove in the rail and stiles. This is good news because I found out before delivery. NOW - how in the heck do I paint these puppies and keep the raised panel floating? I am thinking pre-paint the raised panels; assemble the doors and insert some thin platic or similar material in the joint and then mask off the rest of the raised panel. Now spray the rails and stiles. One concern is when I "pull out the plastic" it will probably be adhered to the rail and stiles and tear the adjcent paint.

[Phil Phelps]

... is pin nail the panel and caulk the seams. Any painted, raised panel door, I caulk the insert. When painting raised panel doors, it's more work to paint than to build. I've made about 200 doors and refinished about 50. It's a lot of work.