Door Refinish

[Nathan Jordan]

Any ideas on how to save this door?
I'm curious to what the original finish might have been, and whether or not I can sand it down enough to reapply. You can see on top half whatever finish that was is just slapped on and the bottom is faded. If I do have to sand it all down, whats the best way to sand all the moulding, is blasting wood a thing (sorry I've got more experience with metal working than wood working).

[Paul F Franklin]

Nathan, I'm guessing you meant to attach a photo or two?

[John TenEyck]

How much effort are you willing to put into this? If you want it to look good but don't want to put in 20 hours of work then just clean it, sand off any obvious nubs, roughen everything, and then prime and paint it. If you want to bring it back to something like what it probably looked like originally, however, then you need be up for substantially more work. But I think it will be worth it because that looks like beautiful wood hiding under there, maybe even mahogany.

If you are OK with some work, then the first thing I would do is remove the door and install a temporary one, or block it off completely if you have another entrance. Then it's time to remove all the panels by taking off the molding on one side. Install temporary plywood panels in the openings in the side lites and panels. Next use chemical stripper to strip off the old finish on the outside, and on both sides if the inside is poor, too. Hopefully, it's not. The finish is likely spar varnish and will come off pretty easily with stripper, though you may have to do it more than once to get it all off. If there was a stain underneath you may need to switch to a stripper specifically designed to remove stain after you get the finish off. After the finish (and stain, if there is any) is off you can sand everything lightly by hand and see if any wood needs to be repaired. Once you are satisfied it's ready to refinish you can decide what type of finish to use; varnish, stain + varnish, etc. Whatever you use, make sure it's top end stuff rated for exterior doors. I've had very good luck with Cetol Door and Window finish which is available at my local Benjamin Moore store. Goes on great with nothing more than a good quality brush and looks great. It's available in several colors as well as a clear satin topcoat. If your door is indeed mahogany 2 coats of the Cetol product in mahogany followed by one coat of the clear satin should look great. Here's my own recently completed housedoor, made from Sapele, with that finish combination.




Removing the panels will allow you to refinish them completely. It also will prevent you from gluing them in place with new finish if you try to finish them w/o removal, which could lead to them splitting in a few months/years when they try to shrink as the RH changes.

John

[Mel Fulks]

I always tried to talk people out of stained doors. Because a year out most all got painted. The mouldings on your door
are probably not seen from anywhere farther than door bell pushing distance. I would go all paint on door and frame and
paint the aplied mouldings gold.

[John TenEyck]

I always tried to talk people out of stained doors. Because a year out most all got painted. The mouldings on your door
are probably not seen from anywhere farther than door bell pushing distance. I would go all paint on door and frame and
paint the aplied mouldings gold.

Doors with direct exposure to weather and especially direct sun exposure really destroy substandard finishes. But doors covered by a porch can go many years without the need for any maintenance. Even ones with a lot of exposure do quite well if the construction is good and quality finish products are used. The OP's door looks like it was made well but finished with low quality products. I'd bet it can be rehabbed to look very good again and look good for many years if quality finish products are used. The wood sure looks like mahogany. I know mahogany doors are often painted, but it always bothers me.

John

[Nathan Jordan]

The inside looks pretty good, the house was built in the early 90's and it wouldn't surprise me if there hasn't been any maintenance done to the door (I just bought the house). I'm on the Gulf coast and it does have some direct sunlight exposure, so between the sun and the salty humidity I'm leaning more towards paint. I know it might be against the spirit of this forum but I'm looking for the lowest maintenance solution. I plan on building a nice door for myself one day, but it will remain indoors. I'll take some pictures of the inside and consult my wife, a 20 hour job for you guys will end up taking me 3 weeks.

There are a few spots on the outside panels with some minor splitting, what would be the repair for something like that (pictures to come)?

[Nathan Jordan]

The photos are in the post, not sure why can't see them.

[Jim Becker]

High quality paint over a quality primer after preparation is likely your best route given your location. Even under paint, something like mahogany, if that's indeed what it is, is an excellent door material.

[Nathan Jordan]

Here is some of the splitting and a picture of the inside. I think my wife really wanted to paint anyways. What is the best way to fix minor cracks like this on an exterior door, and whats a good primer?

[John TenEyck]

The wood looks a lot like Sapele, which is a good choice for an exterior door. The one I showed above is Sapele. Anyway, any good exterior grade wood filler will work to fill those cracks. No guarantee those cracks in the lower panels won't continue to open up over time, however. If they are one piece panels, meaning what you see on the outside and inside are from the same piece of wood, then I suspect they are going to continue to give problems over time. Running the AC in the Summer puts the inside RH at maybe 50% while it's 80 or 90$ outside, and that puts a lot of stress on one piece panels. You should remove the panels anyway if you want to do a quality paint job, and that will tell you if they are one piece or two. If they are one piece then you could plane them down, leaving the inside intact and reuse that half of the panels. Then make new half panels for the outside. Install them with a piece of aluminum foil between them to act as a vapor barrier. The half panels will then be able to float independently of each other during the seasonal RH changes, minimizing the chances of cracking. If you don't want to remove the panels then you need to be very careful not to form a paint fillet where the panels meet the moldings because that will pin them in place and prevent them from expanding/contracting.

As for primer and paint, go to SW or BM and ask for their recommendation. Personally, I would strip it, replace the lower panels, and refinish it with Cetol Door and Window finish. I wouldn't worry about the other cracks, you won't see them from 6' away, and I don't think they will compromise the new finish. You can always paint it if it doesn't hold up, but it's hard to go back the other way.

John