Wood door refinishing is the core of Stain Door’s business. While we also do fiberglass and steel front doors, wood entry doors comprise the bulk of our restoration. Homeowners often ask how we go about refurbishing doors. Whether the door is wood, fiberglass or steel, we refinish them in our shop. That way we work on them in a controlled environment while they’re in a horizontal position. The stain and varnish is usually peeling, flaking or completely gone. Once in our shop we remove all the hardware, mask windows and protect areas we aren’t refurbishing.
Door Refinishing Process
Wood Door Refinishing
We then strip existing finishes off the door to expose the bare wood or fiberglass. Minor repairs are then made, such as filling cracks, re-attaching laminate that has come loose, fixing loose trim and so on. The door is then sanded, using various grits of sand paper. This removes any residual finish and opens the grain to receive stain. Once sanded we then clean the surface with denatured alcohol or acetone.
Door Refinishing
Staining the door is the next step in our process. We use high quality stains such as Old Masters, General Finishes, Mohawk or Minwax. After the stain cures we begin the varnishing process. The high-grade varnish we use contains a very high level of UV inhibitors which provide protection from the sun. To make the finish last even longer we apply 6 applications of varnish. After the varnish dries the door is re-installed, to the delight of the homeowner.
Restoring a door is a detailed and time-consuming process. Many of our customers really like their front door and don’t want to replace it when it’s become faded and damaged. When they learn that Door Renew can refinish their front door they’re delighted. Refurbishing an entry door is also a great money saver since it is only a fraction of the cost of a new front door.
For more information contact your local Door Refinishing franchisee.