finishing interior doors
 

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I painted all the doors for my new house by setting up several sawhorses,
preparing the doors, and painting one side at a time, letting that side dry,
then turning them over to finish.


wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Buy yourself a pair of sawhorses so that they are the same size. You'll
find them just about anywhere and you will use them forever. You didn't
mention what type of finishing you are doing but whatever it is there are a
few basic principals which are true.
1. If you have the room to lay them horizontally you will have less trouble
with sags in your finish.

2. Set up your horses and connect them with a couple of 2x4x8's . Lay one
door on the 2x's at a time and lay on your finish. Lay your next door on
the opposite end so that you can easily reach the entire surface. When
done, have someone help you and lift it up and lay it beside the other one.
I have slid them and gotten away with it but used rags under the door to
avoid marring them.

3. Application of finish to all surfaces is at your discretion but I would
think that you would like to have a nice build up on each side as well as
the door knob edge. The top, bottom ends and the hinge edge won't get the
same degree of traffic, if any. Just be sure that the hinge edge looks nice
when done. Iit will be visible. I am personally too anal to neglect any
surface. When, the next time you want to do this? Does 'never' sound
right?

4. Pleeease remove all hardware before doing anything. I about puke when I
see these decorating shows and they tape around the wall outlet plates and
the door knobs. painting over the hinges.


wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

C & M wrote:
Buy yourself a pair of sawhorses so that they are the same size.
You'll find them just about anywhere and you will use them forever.
You didn't mention what type of finishing you are doing but whatever
it is there are a few basic principals which are true.
1. If you have the room to lay them horizontally you will have less
trouble with sags in your finish.

2. Set up your horses and connect them with a couple of 2x4x8's .
Lay one door on the 2x's at a time and lay on your finish. Lay your
next door on the opposite end so that you can easily reach the
entire surface. When done, have someone help you and lift it up and
lay it beside the other one. I have slid them and gotten away with
it but used rags under the door to avoid marring them.

3. Application of finish to all surfaces is at your discretion but I
would think that you would like to have a nice build up on each side
as well as the door knob edge. The top, bottom ends and the hinge
edge won't get the same degree of traffic, if any. Just be sure
that the hinge edge looks nice when done. Iit will be visible. I am
personally too anal to neglect any surface. When, the next time you
want to do this? Does 'never' sound right?

4. Pleeease remove all hardware before doing anything. I about puke
when I see these decorating shows and they tape around the wall
outlet plates and the door knobs. painting over the hinges.


wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first
time. Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood
before; it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors
should be in. Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be
finished horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware
preps, tops, sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as
the front and back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to
get another. Any help you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I have two sawhorses and haven't room for any more, even if they'd collapse
when asked. Instead I keep a few large cardboard boxes slid inbehind
things where I think they won't be noticed. Works just fine.

Josie

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Some recommend leaving the bottom unfinished to allow the door to better
accomodate seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Regards --

"World Traveler" wrote in message
k.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Some recommend leaving the bottom unfinished to allow the door to better
accomodate seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Regards --



Seasonal changes are the reason you MUST paint the bottom, as well as
everything else.

Battleax wrote:
"World Traveler" wrote in message
k.net...

wrote in message
groups.com...

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Some recommend leaving the bottom unfinished to allow the door to better
accomodate seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Regards --




Seasonal changes are the reason you MUST paint the bottom, as well as
everything else.


Not a must, maybe not even common. Many interior
door tops and/or bottom are raw wood. Most of
the bottoms of old time solid doors that I have
seen do not have paint on them. There is stain
but no finish on the top or bottom of the hollow
core doors in my 1970's built house. The tops of
many hollow core doors bought at HF or Lowes are
not primed although the other surfaces are.

Sure it is smart to finish all surfaces. But
furniture manufactures commonly do not finish any
surface that doesn't show, even though applying a
finish would add little to the cost of the item.

On 28 Jun 2005 11:01:40 -0700, "
wrote:

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm not a painter but I'll tell how the painters we work around do it.
First, they spray all of the wood, including the doors, with an
airless sprayer.
All of them spray the doors upright but some leave the doors hanging
and some move them all to one room and have them standing against the
wall.
Most (if not all) door manufacturers require that all 6 sides be
finished or the warranty is voided. It may be a fine line as to
whether or not you need the same number of coats on each side.

Mike O.

"Mike" wrote in message
...
On 28 Jun 2005 11:01:40 -0700, "
wrote:

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

A commercial shop I'm familiar with paints the bottoms and then screws two
cleats to the bottom of the doors. The cleats make it such that the doors
can stand upright and they can then paint all the way around without having
to move the door. The holes in the bottoms are touched up later. When there
are a bunch of doors standing on cleats it looks sort of like Stonehenge...
;~)

John

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 01:39:05 GMT, "George E. Cawthon"
wrote:

Not a must, maybe not even common. Many interior
door tops and/or bottom are raw wood. Most of
the bottoms of old time solid doors that I have
seen do not have paint on them. There is stain
but no finish on the top or bottom of the hollow
core doors in my 1970's built house.

My guess is that's because the painters didn't really care, as many
don't today.
I've been hanging doors for too many years now and every warranty
sheet or sticker that I've read requires finish on all 6 sides or the
manufacturer's warranty is void. Of course the warranties are
normally only good for one year anyway.

Mike O.

John Grossbohlin wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...
On 28 Jun 2005 11:01:40 -0700, "
wrote:

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first
time. Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood
before; it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors
should be in. Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be
finished horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware
preps, tops, sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as
the front and back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to
get another. Any help you might have would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

A commercial shop I'm familiar with paints the bottoms and then
screws two cleats to the bottom of the doors. The cleats make it
such that the doors can stand upright and they can then paint all
the way around without having to move the door. The holes in the
bottoms are touched up later. When there are a bunch of doors
standing on cleats it looks sort of like Stonehenge... ;~)

John

Very funny :) With my luck they'd domino.

I keep a couple of three inch sponge rollers for doing narrow things like
door edges, they wash out easily or can be tossed but they speed things
along since I don't use a sprayer.

Josie

I'm thinking that even though the material cost per door seems small they
have to multiply that by hundreds if not thousands and the savings add up,
in their eyes.


"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Battleax wrote:
"World Traveler" wrote in message
k.net...

wrote in message
groups.com...

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Some recommend leaving the bottom unfinished to allow the door to
better
accomodate seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Regards --




Seasonal changes are the reason you MUST paint the bottom, as well as
everything else.


Not a must, maybe not even common. Many interior
door tops and/or bottom are raw wood. Most of
the bottoms of old time solid doors that I have
seen do not have paint on them. There is stain
but no finish on the top or bottom of the hollow
core doors in my 1970's built house. The tops of
many hollow core doors bought at HF or Lowes are
not primed although the other surfaces are.

Sure it is smart to finish all surfaces. But
furniture manufactures commonly do not finish any
surface that doesn't show, even though applying a
finish would add little to the cost of the item.

That fallacious argument is used often. Yes the
costs add up with hundreds of doors. But of
course so would receipts of one added a few
pennies per door.

Automobile companies use that argument all the
time for not spending less than $10 for some
safety innovation. But they have no problem in
adding $100's for some standard luxury item that
costs an additional $50 or so.

C & M wrote:
I'm thinking that even though the material cost per door seems small they
have to multiply that by hundreds if not thousands and the savings add up,
in their eyes.


"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...

Battleax wrote:

"World Traveler" wrote in message
link.net...


wrote in message
legroups.com...


I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Some recommend leaving the bottom unfinished to allow the door to

better

accomodate seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Regards --




Seasonal changes are the reason you MUST paint the bottom, as well as
everything else.



Not a must, maybe not even common. Many interior
door tops and/or bottom are raw wood. Most of
the bottoms of old time solid doors that I have
seen do not have paint on them. There is stain
but no finish on the top or bottom of the hollow
core doors in my 1970's built house. The tops of
many hollow core doors bought at HF or Lowes are
not primed although the other surfaces are.

Sure it is smart to finish all surfaces. But
furniture manufactures commonly do not finish any
surface that doesn't show, even though applying a
finish would add little to the cost of the item.

"C & M" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking that even though the material cost per door seems small they
have to multiply that by hundreds if not thousands and the savings add
up,
in their eyes.


"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Battleax wrote:
"World Traveler" wrote in message
k.net...

wrote in message
groups.com...

I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be
in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Some recommend leaving the bottom unfinished to allow the door to
better
accomodate seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Regards --




Seasonal changes are the reason you MUST paint the bottom, as well as
everything else.


Not a must, maybe not even common. Many interior
door tops and/or bottom are raw wood. Most of
the bottoms of old time solid doors that I have
seen do not have paint on them. There is stain
but no finish on the top or bottom of the hollow
core doors in my 1970's built house. The tops of
many hollow core doors bought at HF or Lowes are
not primed although the other surfaces are.

Sure it is smart to finish all surfaces. But
furniture manufactures commonly do not finish any
surface that doesn't show, even though applying a
finish would add little to the cost of the item.


Well, I've learned something here. As I recall, the recommendation to leave
the bottom of an interior door unfinished came from a High School wood shop
class, to keep moisture from being trapped inside the door. After the
comments in this thread, I went to a couple of door suppliers web sites
(e.g., http://www.architecturaltraditions.com/warranty.shtml,
http://www.the-wood.com/maintenance.htm) and they require that all six sides
be finished to maintain the warranty. So either my memory is at fault, or
my old shop teacher was giving out bad information,

-- or things changed in the [## exact number garbled - and it's going to
stay that way] decades since I was in school.

Regards

"firstjois" wrote in
:

I have two sawhorses and haven't room for any more, even if they'd
collapse when asked. Instead I keep a few large cardboard boxes slid
inbehind things where I think they won't be noticed. Works just fine.


One of the benefits of making yor own sawhorses is that you can build them
at the right height for the tasks you intend to take on.

Painting doors, laid flat, on sawhorses at 36"-40" in height is _much_
easier on my back. And it brings them into bifocal range, too.

Patriarch

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 10:46:45 -0500, the opaque Patriarch
spake:

"firstjois" wrote in
:

I have two sawhorses and haven't room for any more, even if they'd
collapse when asked. Instead I keep a few large cardboard boxes slid
inbehind things where I think they won't be noticed. Works just fine.


One of the benefits of making yor own sawhorses is that you can build them
at the right height for the tasks you intend to take on.

Painting doors, laid flat, on sawhorses at 36"-40" in height is _much_
easier on my back. And it brings them into bifocal range, too.

Those two points are muy importantè! for us old folks, huh?

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -
--------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Web App & Database Programming

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm finishing a ton of the doors in my home but this is my first time.
Can anyone out there give me some tips? I've finished wood before;
it's just that I'm not quite sure what position the doors should be in.
Should the doors be left hanging? Should they be finished
horizontally/vertically? Should all of the hardware preps, tops,
sides, and bottoms be finished with as many coats as the front and
back? I only have one sawhorse, so maybe I need to get another. Any
help you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

If painting, leave them hanging and you can do both sides at once.