Front door refinishing questions

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by javadog

I think I'd take a hard look at painting the door, if the style of the house would work with a painted door. Less repair time and a longer life.

Was thinking the same. Or maybe a light sand and varnish then put a satin finish stainless kick plate across the whole bottom to cover/hide the miss matching bare spots.

[sammyg2]

I could use one of these,



and one of these



there's all sorts of tools I don't have yet.

I could probably use another hundred attachments for my dremel too.

[sammyg2]

What color does one paint a front door?
Never thought about that before.

[Scott Douglas]

I believe our neighbor has a fire engine red one, but it's hard to see from the street.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I could use one of these,



and one of these



there's all sorts of tools I don't have yet.

I could probably use another hundred attachments for my dremel too.

I wouldn't get any of those near your front door project. Much damage will ensue.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

What color does one paint a front door?
Never thought about that before.

It depends on the architectural style of the house. I have seen plenty of black, red, dark blue and dark green ones. My house had a red one until I remodeled the entire entrance and went with something completely different.

What's the front of the house look like? What colors are in the front landscaping? Photos would help.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Here;s some pics:
the outside of the door, nice from 20 feet. It's 42" wide, don't know why it looks so narrow in the pic.







Lower-left section, this is the worst of the damage. You can see how thick the varnish is.








Lower right area, in this pic you can see a little of the white discoloration. Before I hit it with the old english scratch cover, about 1/4 of the lower section had that white stuff on it. Don't know if it's discolored varnish or just hard water deposits?
it takes a few months to reappear.

That's just clear coat peeling off from water getting under the clear coat. If you are interested in suffering, then go ahead and pull out your belt sanders and orbital sanders and have a go at it. Personally, I take the door off, take it to one of those stripper places and you can have the door back at the end of the day. Next day, after you catch your breath from carrying the door in and out of the car, sand it with fine sand paper, stain or paint it. Clear coat is required after staining. Call General Finishes and they will have a durable finish for you. If not, drive out to Vegas and buy some spar vanish or poly. The formula here in socal sucks with oil base finishes. They don't last all that long like in the old days. I found the modern waterbase clear to be pretty damn durable.

If you decided to do this and screw everything up, they are in Orange. I sometimes buy from them

616 North Eckhoff Street
Orange, CA 92868

714-633-4171

[look 171]

Time to re-plate that lock too

[sammyg2]

take it to one of those stripper places

I'm afraid to do a search for that

[911Ghia]

Profile sander
https://www.ebay.com/c/21030356017
Bought one when I was trimming out our house, worked great.

I believe that Old English product has silicone in it ( my memory ain’t what it once was so I may be wrong ) which can creep under the finish and cause nasty problems.

Rich

[look 171]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I'm afraid to do a search for that

get your mind out of the gutter

[RWebb]

Just remember, there's nothing a Profile sander can do that you can't do manually with a set of dental tools...

[look 171]

Originally Posted by 911Ghia

Profile sander
https://www.ebay.com/c/21030356017
Bought one when I was trimming out our house, worked great.

I believe that Old English product has silicone in it ( my memory ain’t what it once was so I may be wrong ) which can creep under the finish and cause nasty problems.

Rich

I dislike the sander unless one is experienced with it. It rounds all the corners or profiles from the shaper work. Once the piece isn't sanded completely flat, all imperfection will read like a book when semi-gloss is applied.

[911Ghia]

Originally Posted by look 171

I dislike the sander unless one is experienced with it. It rounds all the corners or profiles from the shaper work. Once the piece isn't sanded completely flat, all imperfection will read like a book when semi-gloss is applied.

Did all the easy parts with the sander, all the edges were done with 320 grit and a credit card for a sanding block. Some sections I shaped a wooden sanding block as necessary.
Nothing beats doing it by hand............it’s quiet ;-)
Rich

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

What color does one paint a front door?
Never thought about that before.

Green of course!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behind_the_Green_Door

My wife is in charge of all decor decisions. Mostly because I really don't care, and she has was better taste than I do, and I don't have to make a decision.

When we had a new door installed, before it was put up we painted it a dark burgundy. and had a "storm door" installed at the same time as the new door. The storm door is just a big piece of glass with borders carved in the glass, and the frame is the same color as the door.

The glass door keep all the weather off of the door, and lets us open the wooden door, and lock the glass door for when company is expected. No one can just walk in, and the dog are on full alert once the front door is open so we don't need a doorbell.