I have just stripped a front door. I started out just wanting to plane
a bit off the bottom to stop it sticking, but then I saw how lousy the
paint was, and decided to strip it.
A heat gun had little effect, as the paint would not bubble very
much no matter how long I held the gun on. I then bought 500ml of
Nitromors, which worked ok, but since my door is mainly glass and
very little wood I was surprised to see all of it used up. Unfortunately
that still left paint on the door, particularly the tenacious undercoat.
The killer was that I wished to strip the door back to plain wood
and then apply an exterior woodstain, so had to remove ALL the white
undercoat remnants. This was easy enough on the flat door surfaces,
using an orbital and detail sander, but the beaded full-length mullions
needed doing by hand, which took a day and ruined my fingertips.
Then I found my weatherboard was rotten so I had to replace that
and treat the door for woodworm. Then someone pointed out that the
rimlock on the door was rubbish and should be replaced with a five-
lever deadlock. Then my brother pointed out that the door furniture
was cheap crap and I should replace it with brass stuff. Finally,
someone else pointed out that the door glass was a bit naff, a bit
seventies ( like the door ), so I should get it reglazed.......
Belatedly I realised that my door was a dog and I should have
bought a decent hardwood new one and have done with it, but I've
put so much work in now I can't bring myself to replace it. Dunno
if that answers your questions, but I certainly feel better for getting
it off my chest!!

Andy.

wrote in message
...
Our front door looks as if it has had several coats of paint applied
before the previous coats had dried.

The door is (I think) wood with some sort of metal sheet cladding
(didn't half make a mess of my chisel when I went to change the locks
when we moved in)

What would be the best way of preparing it for repainting (sanding /
nitromors/heat gun ?)

and would you recommend any techniques for replacing it ?


ta