Painting bare wood doors

How to get a professional finish when painting new bare wood doors.

Wooden doors have a variety of colours, textures and conflicting grain patterns, all of which need to be painted seperately, however the end result must look even, especially when painting a new wooden door.

This is a easy to do guide to Painting a bare wood door step by step:

Following the grain of the wood, rub down using a medium grade sandpaper.

Using white spirit on a cloth, wipe away the dust.

Any cracks, voids or holes should be filled with cellulose filler, woodfiller or putty. The filler should be left slightly proud of the hole and then sanded back with fine sandpaper.
Doors being painted in a clear varnish or waxed will need to match the colour of the door with a filler or putty of the same colour. If no exact match is available in a pre-mixed form, purchase small quantities of both light and dark colours and mix your own.

B & Q , Wickes and many other DIY retailers stock a product called Paint Knotting Fluid or of a similar name. Use this over any knots in the wood, this helps to avoid stains on your paintwork caused by resin slowly bleeding out of the wood.

Finally remove all dust and debris by wiping the door down, including the edges, with white spirit and a clean cloth.

A good coat of primer should always be apply to bare wood. Make sure this is worked well into the woodgrain and covers any knots thoroughly. To gain a professional finish once the primer has dried, rub the door down with a fine sandpaper and then a clean cloth to remove any dust.

Using undercoat and preferably by the same manufacturer as the top coat, apply a layer. For dark wooden doors you may need to use a fine sandpaper and give a gentle rub of the dried undercoat and reapply another coat.

The top coat of gloss or vinyl satin can now be applied, taking care to check over completed areas to remove drips and paint build-ups.

There are technics for painting doors to help reduce runs and these will be posted very soon.

The picture attached shows a good order in which to paint your door.

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