Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed. Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here? Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use? Spar Varnish?

I'm guessing you're talking about several coats to do it right, so is
that the reason for the high bid?


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com

On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 4:25:16 PM UTC-5, -MIKE- wrote:
Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed. Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here? Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use? Spar Varnish?

Penetrating epoxy sealer underneath Epifanes marine varnish performed very well according to a FWW article from several years ago. Issue #205

I'm guessing you're talking about several coats to do it right, so is
that the reason for the high bid?

Probably 3 or 4 coats of varnish I'd guess. If you have a sprayer it doesn't take much actual time - but it's like a full day in between coats.

On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 5:11:41 PM UTC-5, Jay Pique wrote:
On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 4:25:16 PM UTC-5, -MIKE- wrote:
Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed. Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here? Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use? Spar Varnish?

Penetrating epoxy sealer underneath Epifanes marine varnish performed very well according to a FWW article from several years ago. Issue #205

I'm guessing you're talking about several coats to do it right, so is
that the reason for the high bid?

Probably 3 or 4 coats of varnish I'd guess. If you have a sprayer it doesn't take much actual time - but it's like a full day in between coats.

Ooops - I overlooked that it's already installed. That's not ideal....

On 1/28/18 4:11 PM, Jay Pique wrote:
On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 4:25:16 PM UTC-5, -MIKE- wrote:
Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed. Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here? Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use? Spar Varnish?

Penetrating epoxy sealer underneath Epifanes marine varnish performed very well according to a FWW article from several years ago. Issue #205


I just read that article. :-)


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com

On Sun, 28 Jan 2018 14:11:39 -0800 (PST), Jay Pique
wrote:

On Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 4:25:16 PM UTC-5, -MIKE- wrote:
Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed. Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here? Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use? Spar Varnish?

Penetrating epoxy sealer underneath Epifanes marine varnish performed very well according to a FWW article from several years ago. Issue #205

I'm guessing you're talking about several coats to do it right, so is
that the reason for the high bid?

Probably 3 or 4 coats of varnish I'd guess. If you have a sprayer it doesn't take much actual time - but it's like a full day in between coats.

I'd say find out what the other guys are bidding. Might be Awlgrip or
the like, which you do _not_ want to spray if you don't know how to
protect yourself.

On 1/28/2018 4:25 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed.Â* Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here?Â* Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use?Â* Spar Varnish?

I'm guessing you're talking about several coats to do it right, so is
that the reason for the high bid?



My guess is the guy sized up the customer. I've know tradesmen that
doubled their price if the customer was a doctor or lawyer, added 50%
for anyone driving a fancy car.

I can see $600+ though. Couple of hours for each of three trips. 2
hours on site, travel, only a half day for other work.

This question is a bit like one of my previous clients I ran into over the weekend. "Hey Robert... I have an office in my wife's dental practice and I want the ceilings torn off, I *think* they are acoustic tile over sheetrock, but it could be tile over plywood. Also, I need the walls stripped off and the cabinets removed so I can upgrade the walls to new hold new free hanging cabinets. Oh yeah, and a couple three new plugs. How much will that cost?"

Let your mind wonder.

So, since finishing/refinishing is certainly part of what I do, I would ask this: Clear coat or paint? (Why hasn't that been asked?) What shape is the door in? Need a lot of prep? Need to be puttied, have surface work done? Does it have panels? How many? Does it have glass in it? Can the glass come out easily or will it have to be taped off?

What kind of finish will the door owner tolerate? The smell of oil based products will linger in the house for days. Some people have now decided that even latex paint fumes can bring on delirium. With that in mind, the $1200 guy may have decided to take the door off and take it to his shop for finishing to get that "factory" finish. If so, like me he probably puts a plywood barrier across the door hole while the actual door is off site. Some of my clients have loved the convenience of having me pick up the door, block the entry and be gone in 30 minutes, then return in a week with a finished door that I put back up and install the hardware and it's finished.

So, what kind of finish, how much prep, what style door, and on or off site finish, and how will it be applied?

Robert

On 1/29/18 1:11 PM, wrote:
This question is a bit like one of my previous clients I ran into
over the weekend. "Hey Robert... I have an office in my wife's
dental practice and I want the ceilings torn off, I *think* they are
acoustic tile over sheetrock, but it could be tile over plywood.
Also, I need the walls stripped off and the cabinets removed so I
can upgrade the walls to new hold new free hanging cabinets. Oh
yeah, and a couple three new plugs. How much will that cost?"

Let your mind wonder.

So, since finishing/refinishing is certainly part of what I do, I
would ask this: Clear coat or paint? (Why hasn't that been asked?)
What shape is the door in? Need a lot of prep? Need to be puttied,
have surface work done? Does it have panels? How many? Does it
have glass in it? Can the glass come out easily or will it have to
be taped off?


Clear coat. If it was paint, I wouldn't be here, asking. :-)

Brand new door- perfect condition. Some holes need puttied-- not sure
why installer didn't do that. Lots of glass panels, including glass
sidelights. Probably taped off.


What kind of finish will the door owner tolerate? The smell of oil
based products will linger in the house for days. Some people have
now decided that even latex paint fumes can bring on delirium. With
that in mind, the $1200 guy may have decided to take the door off
and take it to his shop for finishing to get that "factory" finish.
If so, like me he probably puts a plywood barrier across the door
hole while the actual door is off site. Some of my clients have
loved the convenience of having me pick up the door, block the entry
and be gone in 30 minutes, then return in a week with a finished door
that I put back up and install the hardware and it's finished.

So, what kind of finish, how much prep, what style door, and on or
off site finish, and how will it be applied?

Robert


I suppose I could take the door with me, but I'd still have the frame
and sidelights/trim to finish. The whole thing is newly installed and
raw mahogany.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com

On Monday, January 29, 2018 at 2:44:21 PM UTC-5, -MIKE- wrote:
On 1/29/18 1:11 PM, wrote:
This question is a bit like one of my previous clients I ran into
over the weekend. "Hey Robert... I have an office in my wife's
dental practice and I want the ceilings torn off, I *think* they are
acoustic tile over sheetrock, but it could be tile over plywood.
Also, I need the walls stripped off and the cabinets removed so I
can upgrade the walls to new hold new free hanging cabinets. Oh
yeah, and a couple three new plugs. How much will that cost?"

Let your mind wonder.

So, since finishing/refinishing is certainly part of what I do, I
would ask this: Clear coat or paint? (Why hasn't that been asked?)
What shape is the door in? Need a lot of prep? Need to be puttied,
have surface work done? Does it have panels? How many? Does it
have glass in it? Can the glass come out easily or will it have to
be taped off?


Clear coat. If it was paint, I wouldn't be here, asking. :-)

Brand new door- perfect condition. Some holes need puttied-- not sure
why installer didn't do that. Lots of glass panels, including glass
sidelights. Probably taped off.


What kind of finish will the door owner tolerate? The smell of oil
based products will linger in the house for days. Some people have
now decided that even latex paint fumes can bring on delirium. With
that in mind, the $1200 guy may have decided to take the door off
and take it to his shop for finishing to get that "factory" finish.
If so, like me he probably puts a plywood barrier across the door
hole while the actual door is off site. Some of my clients have
loved the convenience of having me pick up the door, block the entry
and be gone in 30 minutes, then return in a week with a finished door
that I put back up and install the hardware and it's finished.

So, what kind of finish, how much prep, what style door, and on or
off site finish, and how will it be applied?

Robert


I suppose I could take the door with me, but I'd still have the frame
and sidelights/trim to finish. The whole thing is newly installed and
raw mahogany.


Is installing a raw wooden door a standard practice?

On Monday, January 29, 2018 at 2:02:26 PM UTC-6, DerbyDad03 wrote:

Is installing a raw wooden door a standard practice?

Yes, depending on what is being done. When I retrofit a door it is always unfinished. That allows for the door to be trimmed, fitted, bored, mortised etc., to get a good fit. It isn't necessarily the cutting, chiseling, etc.., that is done to fit the door to the opening but to allow for all the handing needed to do so.

OTOH, if I am putting in a new door, jamb, trims, etc., with a door prehung in a jamb, I finish the door off site and put it in the frame and take it to the job to hang. All it needs is just one coat of paint on the trim/jamb after hanging and caulking.

Most of my retrofits of "door only" are almost always wood since you can't trim (of course you can a bit) a metal or fiberglass door to fit an existing jamb. We have a lot of soil movement here, so by the time the folks need a new door, the jamb can be all kinds of out of square and plumb requiring a lot of fitting.

Robert

On 1/29/18 2:02 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Monday, January 29, 2018 at 2:44:21 PM UTC-5, -MIKE- wrote:
On 1/29/18 1:11 PM, wrote:
This question is a bit like one of my previous clients I ran
into over the weekend. "Hey Robert... I have an office in my
wife's dental practice and I want the ceilings torn off, I
*think* they are acoustic tile over sheetrock, but it could be
tile over plywood. Also, I need the walls stripped off and the
cabinets removed so I can upgrade the walls to new hold new free
hanging cabinets. Oh yeah, and a couple three new plugs. How
much will that cost?"

Let your mind wonder.

So, since finishing/refinishing is certainly part of what I do,
I would ask this: Clear coat or paint? (Why hasn't that been
asked?) What shape is the door in? Need a lot of prep? Need to
be puttied, have surface work done? Does it have panels? How
many? Does it have glass in it? Can the glass come out easily
or will it have to be taped off?


Clear coat. If it was paint, I wouldn't be here, asking. :-)

Brand new door- perfect condition. Some holes need puttied-- not
sure why installer didn't do that. Lots of glass panels, including
glass sidelights. Probably taped off.


What kind of finish will the door owner tolerate? The smell of
oil based products will linger in the house for days. Some
people have now decided that even latex paint fumes can bring on
delirium. With that in mind, the $1200 guy may have decided to
take the door off and take it to his shop for finishing to get
that "factory" finish. If so, like me he probably puts a plywood
barrier across the door hole while the actual door is off site.
Some of my clients have loved the convenience of having me pick
up the door, block the entry and be gone in 30 minutes, then
return in a week with a finished door that I put back up and
install the hardware and it's finished.

So, what kind of finish, how much prep, what style door, and on
or off site finish, and how will it be applied?

Robert


I suppose I could take the door with me, but I'd still have the
frame and sidelights/trim to finish. The whole thing is newly
installed and raw mahogany.


Is installing a raw wooden door a standard practice?


I don't know. There has to be some logical reason. All I can think of
is so all the trim-out can be finished at the same time.
However, I also think it's better to put a finish on all the surfaces,
including bottom. That way when it shrinks, there's still protection.
I think it would be optimal to do all finishing in shop on all wood
surfaces, up until last coat. Then do last coat after installation.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com

On 1/28/2018 3:25 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Client has new exterior Mahogany door installed.Â* Typical 3-footer with
1ft. sidelights.
Guy who put it in said he doesn't like finishing, but has another guy
who does it, and estimated he would charge $6-800.
Other guy shows up and tells them it'll be more like $1200.

Inside, I'm thinking, "Heck, *I'll* do it for $6-800!" but try to play
it cool.
So, I'm looking into it.

What am I missing, here?Â* Is this really a thousand dollar job!?
What's the best finish to use?Â* Spar Varnish?

I'm guessing you're talking about several coats to do it right, so is
that the reason for the high bid?




In Houston they are charging $4~$600, sand and refinish.