How to Refinish a Wooden Door
Old wooden doors are often one-of-a-kind pieces that add character and dignity to your house. If yours starts to look a bit shabby, you can often rejuvenate it simply by re-staining and refinishing it. First, you have to sand off the stain and finish, which can be time consuming but is not difficult. The staining and varnishing also takes a lot of time, since you have to wait for several coats to dry. Plan on spending a weekend on this project. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Rotary sander
- Palm sander
- Sanding blocks
- Wooden door
- Screwdriver
- Wood stain
- Varnish
- Paint brushes
Instructions
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1
Remove the door and take out all the hardware. Loosely reassemble the bolt, handle and other parts once you take them off the door so that you don't lose pieces.
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2
Sand off the stain and coating. Use a rotary sander to do the coarse work. Start with 80 grit and slowly move to finer and finer grits until you have stripped the door down to the bare wood and smoothed down major rough spots.
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Sand the details. Sand around molding with sandpaper, a palm sander or foam sanding blocks. A rotary sander will work well for coarse work, but you will need to use other tools to get in and do the detail work. Start with the palm sander or sanding blocks, then gradually work up to fine grit sandpaper. Also, use the fine grit to smooth out any scars on the door.
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4
Stain the door. Select a stain and apply three coats to the door, allowing it enough time to dry in between. If you like the way the bare wood works, you can skip this step and go directly to the varnish.
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5
Apply a weather-resistant varnish to the door. Paint the entire door evenly, and give it plenty of time to dry. Once it is dry, lightly sand the varnish with fine-grit sandpaper. Then, apply another coat.
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Tips & Warnings
Apply the stain and varnish in a well-ventilated room. Some coatings are toxic.
