Restoring Old Interior Doors

Restore the shine with a fresh coat of.

Restoring old interior doors.

On this weekend workbench segment blake sloane of the rebuilding exchange helps ryan restore a sad old door without sanding stripping or any hard chemical. You can recolor just about everything in the interior. If the door is an interior one you may be able to restore it by staining over the old finish and applying a new finish. Otherwise there s no practical way to rehang the door without damaging the finish.

Then put the door back on its hinges before applying the first coat. The stripper chemicals from the dipping process can dissolve the putty holding in the panes of glass and in handling the window it can be dropped easily enough. Over time wood doors can be tarnished by ingrained dirt and grime from dusty building work sticky fingers and pets paws and become marked from bumps and knocks but they can be brought back to life with good regular maintenance. This project reveals how to restore and clean old timber doors fill holes cracks and gaps refinish the wood and fix new ironmongery.

An antique door is a unique problem because it s a small enough job that it seems fairly easy but important enough that you don t want to mess up since doors are so highly visible. This 1 step diy can restore a wood front door with moderate sun damage and or discoloration. While it s still on the sawhorses seal the door s bottom and top edges with a coat of finish. Just gather the supplies in a 5 gallon bucket and tackle the renewal project one window or door at a time whenever you have a few spare hours.

A final consideration when restoring an old door is the door glass if there is any. If so prepare the door by sanding it lightly with 220 grit sandpaper. Remove old paint spots. Choose a finish and apply first coat.

Restoration resources carries hundreds of old period doors circa 1850 1940 including interior pocket and entrance doors in many traditional styles wood types and sizes generally ranging in price from 50 to 500. Quick diy fix for sun damaged dry wood front door fix most sun. The most common repair that needs to be done on antique doors is usually patching old hinge gains and latch holes with a wood dutchman. Seal door edges before rehanging photo by kit latham.

If you vacuum and shampoo your vehicle ahead of time you can complete the whole rejuvenation process in a single weekend allowing for drying time.