Refinishing Doors

If you have ever had a house or an apartment for longer than a year, then chances are you have wanted to replace the doors inside your home. Unfortunately this is something that can be extremely expensive. In case you have never looked at pricing out a door, they can run you (if you do your own work) as much as $600.00. One way to lower that cost, is to simply refinish the wooden doors inside your home. By refinishing your doors, you can save a lot of expense, and also give your own distinctive touch to your home improvement and decoration project.

Materials needed:

• Sand paper
• Sanding tool—electric or block
• Paint scraper or stripping tool
• Paint brush
• Stain or paint
• Sealant or finish.

Project steps:

1. Stripping. Stripping the old paint job, or removing the old finishing job is one of the most commonly skipped steps in such a project. This step may not be really that necessary if you just want to change the color of the door, then go ahead and skip this step. If you want to get as smooth and professional of a job as possible, then you are going to want to take your stripping tool or paint scraper and remove the old paint or stain.
2. Sanding. Sanding off the remaining paint or stain is the next step in this home improvement project. By using the sandpaper you are going to produce a smoother surface for the paint or stain to go onto. This step is going to remove all the imperfections that are a result of the previous step of stripping. You are going to want to use a progressively finer grain or grit of sand paper as you go along, this is what provides the smoothest surface you can get.
3. Staining or painting. Now that you have properly prepared the surface of your door, you are ready to proceed to the staining or painting stage. You first need to decide whether you want to stain the wood, or whether you are going to want to paint it. Both possibilities are going to provide you with wonderful results, and all in all it comes down to a matter of taste. Chances are you are going to apply more than one layer to the door to achieve the look that you desire, this is fine, but you need to make sure that you have allowed each coat to dry completely prior to applying the next coat.
4. Seal or finish. After you have either painted or stained your wooden door there is one last step that you need to accomplish prior to cleaning up and calling it a day. That step would be to apply a watertight sealant or finish to the door. Using such a product provides an extra layer of protection to your wood, which is definitely a huge bonus in any home, and practically a necessity in a home with small kids.