Refinishing A Bedroom Door

O.K. today's project is this old nasty bedroom door. I started by using an electric palm sander with a fine sandpaper on it to sand off all of the old finish. Then I wiped it all down with a acetone paint thinner. That just took any small amount of old finish off that may have still been there. I checked the door for small holes and then filled them using a small putty knife and a tub of Elmer's wood filler. I let the filler dry and then sanded again on just those spots. I sanded until all I could see of the filler was what was just in the old hole. Then I wiped it again with a dry rag to take off any small particles left from sanding.

Now it is time to decide paint, or stain? Easy decision for me and this old house. I know that paint is going to look very strange with my rustic decor. So a trip to the local hardware store and I decided on Special Walnut stain. I love it!! It looks great, kind of dark but not too dark.


Now, I have found that when putting stain on, it is easiest to use a sponge brush. They come in all different sizes and are cheap and easy to use. When using stain they keep the drips off of me, and also I have better control of how much stain I am putting on and where it is going. I just dip the sponge brush into the stain and work it in slow. Watching very closely for drips on the door. If there are any drips, I just lightly run my sponge over them, not adding any pressure to the sponge. I can control the amount of stain going on at once by the pressure put on the sponge.

It takes about 6 hours of dry time on this stain. But, I have found times that it took longer. After about 6 hours I just touch it, if it feels tacky I wait longer. After the stain is good and dry, I run a drywall sponge on the fine side, very lightly over the surface, and then wipe in down with a dry rag again. I do this in between every coat. I put 3 coats of stain on.

Now I am ready to polyurethane. Another choice, it comes in satin, semi, or high gloss. I go with the high gloss. I will need 3 coats of this also. I put it on just like the stain only using a clean, new sponge brush. It has 6 hour dry time also, maybe longer.

I realize that I need to replace the door knob now. Maybe something in a nickel finish, or brass. I need something a little different. So another trip to the hardware needs to be scheduled. But that will have to wait for another day.

Of course looking at the dry times you may have guessed,that this took more then one day. It was worth it. The old door looks almost new, but better then that because it is old it has character.

You may be thinking there is no way I am going to add that many coats. But I have found that it makes the door very washable. Being washable is a big thing in a house like mine.