How to Refinish an Interior Door Jamb

Series Summary

The door jamb is an under-appreciated part of home construction. Not seen at all when the door is closed, it is barely noticed even when the door is open. Yet it can be crucial to your home security and your state of mind. Deadbolts and other door locks extend through a recess in a door jamb, so a well-built door jamb is a crucial factor in the steadfastness of a lock. The door jamb also creates a seal between a wall and the door, so it can block out noise from other rooms if well constructed.

In this series of diy home repair videos, our expert carpenter Mark Blocker tells you how to fix a door jam on the inside of your house. Follow along in these free film clips as he demonstrates how to prepare the surface for refinishing, applies the putty, sands it down, applies primer and repeats the process until he is ready to caulk the surface. More sanding, more primer and eventually you are ready for the base paint. More sanding, then the second base coat and you are done. This may seem like a lot of sanding and priming for a door jamb, but you want to do everything around the house done the right way. Any sign of sloppy work, even on the door jamb, and the neighbors and in-laws will start to doubt everything you do. And we can't have that!

Video Transcript

"MARK BLOCKER: Hello. My name is Mark Blocker on behalf of Expert Village. In this training video, we're going to go over how to refinish interior door jambs. What we're going to do is we're going to take this previously stained door jambs and we're going to sand them down, repair the dents, divits and minor damage to the doors and prepare 'em for what I refer to as a paint grade. In woodworking products, in trim and finish work, you have basically two types of finishing: a paint grade finishing and a stain grade finishing. A stain grade would be a wood, raw wood, that's capable of being stained to show the clear beauty of the grain; whereas a paint grade we can use putty and other materials to make repairs and get the door smooth and that'll be covered with paint so they won't be able to be seen. So, in this case here we're going to take the existing stained doors and then prep them, repair the dents, divits and sand them down and get them prepped and paint them. First, we'll primer 'em and then we'll put the finishing coat on there. Now, we'll take you through all the steps, step by step for a proper, safe way to refinish your interior door jambs. Please watch our next segment on safety. "