Door refinish gone bad

[Cassie Long]

I recently had someone strip and primer my front door. Unfortunately it came back to me splintered and possibly ruined. I was told that when he put the primer on it that's when the wood started to splinter.

Can I resand and correct this problem, or did, in fact, the primer ruin the wood. Such a unique door, I hate to lose it.

Thanks!

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[glenn bradley]

I'm having a hard time understanding how primer could do that to a door. Was it scratched an gouged like that when it went to him? If so, its rustic so paint it and enjoy. If not, it looks like someone handed a kid a wire brush and a scraper to remove the finish(?). As the door is unique, replacement doesn't sound like a possibility. If the profiles and rosettes were smooth before they started I really wonder about the effort to try to rebuild them. Sanding those shapes would foul them but, might create something even more unique .

[Von Bickley]

I'm having a hard time understanding how primer could do that to a door. Was it scratched an gouged like that when it went to him? .

I agree with Glenn.....

[Cassie Long]

I'm having a hard time understanding how primer could do that to a door. Was it scratched an gouged like that when it went to him? If so, its rustic so paint it and enjoy. If not, it looks like someone handed a kid a wire brush and a scraper to remove the finish(?). As the door is unique, replacement doesn't sound like a possibility. If the profiles and rosettes were smooth before they started I really wonder about the effort to try to rebuild them. Sanding those shapes would foul them but, might create something even more unique .

NO, the door was completely smooth. Once he removed all the paint that the stripper would remove, he used fine sandpaper (his words) to take the remainder off. Then used the primer. He sent us pictures before he put the primer on, and it looked fine. Would using a filler be possible to fill the spots that are deeply splintered? This is crushing, as I love this door!

[Cassie Long]

Well, upon further inspection of the photos, he did indeed frack up the door during the stripping process. We apparently did hand a wire brush to a kid.

[Rob Luter]

It looks to me like it's been power washed.

[ryan paulsen]

It almost looks like he went at it with a paint scraper. Was this a professional? The damage looks to have been caused by the removal process, not the primer. Do you have the pic he sent you before he primed it?

[Dan Hulbert]

What a shame. I've stripped and refinished 20+ doors over the years (wife likes old doors) and have never seen anything like that. I think they used a power washer to remove the old finish or stripper. If the primer caused the splintering, why is the primer filling all the splinters? Makes no sense. Recovery from this mess is going to be time consuming. Perhaps Bondo the splintered areas, then hand sand smooth? Even if you go the re-strip and re-finish route, you're going to spend a lot of time cleaning out the divots.

Break out the patience. You're going to need it to make this right again.

[Scott Holmes]

Since the door was painted and is going to be painted; My guess is that the stripper or primer dissolved the filler that made the door smooth. Re-fill and level and use a paint compatible with the filler.

Or he poorly and improperly used a paint scraper.

[Wayne Lomman]

I agree with all the above - there is no way primer causes this effect. Butchery does.

Scott is correct. Re-fill the damage using a decent filler and re paint it. Since the primer is new, use car body filler making sure you get the one that goes over paint. Then you can paint it with anything. Cheers

[John Blazy]

The polyester resin in the body fillers should stick great to the primer. I would use any of the polyester sandable glazes as opposed to the body fillers. they sand WAAAYY better - to fine powder. then they overcoat great, and some of them are white (with the white or clear hardener), so the white paint will cover better (assuming final coat is white).

Once you use polyester glaze as a filler, you will be hooked. ITs awesome for filling the edges of MDF too.

[Cassie Long]

Thanks all! Borrowed a pair of workhorses and waiting for the rain to subside. Looks like I'm entering a new territory of home repair. Fingers crossed!