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The years and the elements hadn't been kind to the exterior of this 94-year-old, thick, cypress door. Flakes of varnish yet clung to the wood in spots, while the rest of the surface was rough and dried out from the effects of water and dominicus.

Woods entry doors everywhere endure from the same assaults, and many finish upwards in the trash, replaced by depression-maintenance, mass-produced metal and fiberglass surrogates. Merely homeowners Belinda Chase and Scott Oja were determined to save this door—they knew the value of the antique, with its oval light of rippled, mouth-blown drinking glass and its sturdy, all-forest construction. Then they hired painting contractor John Dee to bring it dorsum to life.

Dee, who has worked on many This Old Business firm television set projects, attacked the splotchy surface with sandpaper and scrapers until the former pino door was as fresh and every bit fragrant as the day it was built. Past mid-after­noon, the door was ready for its new finish: a high-functioning, oil-based varnish to highlight the forest's rich color and grain. Three coats after, it gleamed similar anile mahogany. "I tin't believe it's the same door," said Chase. "Information technology's just so cute."

How to Refinish a Forest Door

1. Remove door hardware

Photograph by Kit Latham

• Before refinishing this scarred and flaking entry door, painting contractor John Dee sets it on padded sawhorses and takes off the hardware.

2. Sand the flats

Photograph by Kit Latham

• With the door resting on padded sawhorses, use a random-orbit sander with 80-grit paper to quickly remove what remains of the erstwhile varnish and lord's day-baked flakes of woods.
• Sand the woods again with 100-grit paper, then 120-grit. "There'southward no sense in going any effectively," Dee says. If you do, you lot'll begin to close off the pores in the wood, which will prevent the finish from adhering to the surface.

3. Scrape the moldings

Photo past Kit Latham

• Pocket-sized, razor-sharp scrapers reach into corners, across narrow profiles, and on the end grain of raised panels where no rotary sander tin safely get. Pull the scraper with the grain; apply two easily and apply only gentle downwardly pressure to reduce the chance of an accidental skid gouging the forest. Dee uses two bract shapes: a trapezoid for the flats and a teardrop for the narrow crevices.

4. Manus-sand profiles and clear away dust

Photo by Kit Latham

• Fold a half sail of 100-grit sandpaper in thirds, printing it into a section of the profile with your fingertips, and then rub dorsum and forth in long strokes over the length of the molding.
• Utilize a sanding sponge, to a higher place, on inside corners where fingers tin can't reach. Follow with a quick brushing and a thorough vacuuming to clear abroad dust that might mar the end.

5. Seal door edges before rehanging

Photo by Kit Latham

• While it's withal on the sawhorses, seal the door'southward bottom and top edges with a coat of finish.
• Then put the door back on its hinges before applying the first glaze. Otherwise, in that location's no practical way to rehang the door without dissentious the finish.

6. Choose a finish and apply kickoff coat

Photo by Kit Latham

• Soak a new China-bristle brush for a infinitesimal or two in paint thinner, then spin or knock off the excess.
• Pour some finish into a clean bucket and dip the bristles about a third of the way into the liquid. Start on the panels, then move to the environment­ing moldings.
• Coat the horizontal rails next, and finally the vertical stiles. If whatever end ends upwardly on a dry surface out of sequence, wipe it off immediate­ly with a rag.
• Let the door dry overnight before endmost it completely.

What Finish to Employ

Nil beats paint for practicality. Ii coats of enamel pigment over a primer volition provide a woods door with the best and longest-lasting protection against sun, chafe, and weather—virtually eight to x years. But a beautiful wood door with a clear finish volition attract many more admiring glances, equally long equally you maintain information technology with devotion.

Spar varnish has long been the articulate stop of choice for exterior wood because of its elastic toughness and ability to stand up to the sun. But now many dissimilar and effective formulations take fabricated it to store shelves. Await for one specifically for outdoor apply and loaded with UV-protection; Dee used Sikkens' Cetol Door & Window on this projection. So follow the application instructions and maintenance regimen to the letter.

A clear finish typically needs a thorough sanding every few years to remove its dominicus- and weather-damaged top layers, followed past a couple of fresh acme coats. Neglect it, and the base coat will somewhen lose its grip, leaving you with a graying, peeling mess. At that bespeak, a complete refinishing is your only selection.

7. Utilise final coat and reattach hardware

Photo past Kit Latham

• Subsequently the finish has dried overnight, gently hand-sand information technology with 220-grit paper. (You don't desire to sand through to bare wood.) Dust the door and wipe it down with a tack cloth.
• Brush on the second coat, post-obit the same order, and let it dry overnight. Grit and sand with 280-grit paper, then put on the final coat.
• When that'due south dry, reattach the door hardware.

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Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/doors/21016526/how-to-refinish-a-door

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