Splotchy Knotty Alder Doors

[Chuck Townsend]

A painting contractor just completed the finish work on all the trim and interior doors in a high-end spec home I am building. All the material is knotty alder with a natural finish - a natural Minwax stain followed by sprayed lacquer. For the most part, the trim looks fine. I and the general contractor are not happy with the doors, however, as they came out looking very spotchy in most cases. The general contractor said he has installed thousands of knotty alder doors over the last 20 years and has never seen finish work turn out as bad as these. The trim is from one millwork shop; the doors from another. Trim is solid material. Doors are two-panel with engineered stiles and rails. The door panels are solid tongue and groove.

Problem is what to do now. We used the same doors with the same finish applied in the same way by the same painting contractor a couple years ago, and the result was beautiful. The job foreman with the painting contractor claims there is nothing he could have done or can do now to make the doors look better. He claims that using a conditioner on a soft wood like alder wouldn't have made a difference. He thinks the door manufacturer may have used a different grade of sandpaper this time vs those installed in the last or that that the glue used to apply the 1/8" veneer to the stiles and rails may have leached into the veneer from the rear and caused the natural stain to penetrate unevenly. The door manufacturer hasn't been brought into the conversation as yet.

Help. Do we strip the doors, sand the doors, buy new doors and start over, or what?

Thanks very much for any assistance. I love your site.

[Chris Barton]

I would send the doors back with pictures and a detailed explanation of why you are returning them.

[Terry Bigelow]

At our cabinet business we have had a problem similar to yours in the past(I can't say for sure without seeing). The problem I found is that the door company runs the finished doors through a belt sander with a high grit paper (320 or more) and they are almost polished they are so smooth. I noticed if they weren't "roughed up" with 120/150 first, that the dye stain we use couldn't penetrate evenly and left awful blotching. I took a test door with the factory sanding and drew a line down the middle and sanded 1 side with 150 and left the other untouched. After the staining there was a night and day difference between the two! As for your situation, this is but one possiblity of many. We use solid wood doors, spray applied dye stains and spray laquer finish so I don't know if that changes things. As far as a fix, it's probably not one you want to hear. I don't think there's a easy fix or touch up that would do it. I guess you need to decide which route is cheaper/effecient. Option 1: Sand off x amount of top coats and the stain(not sanding through the veneer!) and refinish. Option 2: Apply a chemical stripped and clean off laquer and stain (never know what affect chemicals have on re-finish). Option 3: Order and finish new doors . This is probably the safest yet least favorite!

[Terry Bigelow]

I would send the doors back with pictures and a detailed explanation of why you are returning them.

You could try this way too, but usually they'll blame the stain or finisher. Truth is, usually it is one of the two! But if you did have some kind of issue with glue seepage (sounds like a stretch to me) that could be their fault.