Decor 

Painting wooden doors: step by step instructions

For those who have started repairs in their home, there are always a couple of tips on how to save money and manage on your own. Just a great way to save money is painting wooden doors.

If we talk about saving money during repairs, then it is important to understand what you can save on so that you don’t regret it and don’t pay twice in the future. If you are just thinking of starting a repair, first evaluate its scale and calculate the cost of materials. If wooden doors are installed in the room, do not rush to change them to a cheaper option (even a new one), modern inexpensive designs are not durable, and there can be no talk of wear resistance. Plastic doors "under the tree" or hollow structures will not last long, besides, they still do not meet all the requirements. For example, sound insulation and heat preservation in the room. Therefore, it is so important to think carefully and take into account all the nuances. If you wish, it is better to leave the old wooden door and restore it. You can do otherwise - buy a new wooden door without coating and paint it yourself. Here a lot of questions immediately arise, what tools are needed and how to paint wooden doors.

How to paint a wooden door

In order for the door to really fit into the interior and look harmonious, it is important to choose the right paint for wooden doors.

There can be 2 options for painting a wooden door: using paint or varnish. Most often, consumers prefer paint and varnish products, we will consider both options so that you have the opportunity to make your own choice, taking into account the color scheme of your room.

Material options for painting wooden doors:

  1. Varnish. On sale you can find several types of varnishes: transparent with a glossy surface or colorless matte, as well as colored. Regardless of this, after painting a wooden surface, the structure of the tree is not painted over. As a result of the work done, you will see everything, especially the imperfections of the wood. If you are processing a new wooden door that has been pre-prepared, then there should be no problems. You can safely choose this type of paint and varnish material and get to work. Another thing is if you are going to restore an old door that has steadfastly withstood several stages of restoration, in this case it is better not to use varnish. The second point - when choosing varnishes, you should pay attention to the composition of the coating: the varnish is oil-based (alcohol) or solvent-based (nitro-lacquer). Just the second option is better to refuse immediately, as the varnish can ruin the tree. The ideal option is to use polyurethane varnish. It is stable and durable.
  2. Dye. A huge range of this type of finishing material allows you to give the wooden surface the desired shade and look. The paint is matte, glossy and translucent (emphasizes the structure of the tree). It remains only to decide on the choice of paint, taking into account some nuances: the basis of the material must be alcohol or oil. Nitro paints are also allowed, if you are not repelled by a strong smell.
  3. There is another material - wax oil, which gives the surface a beautiful glossy shade. After coating with wax, it seems that the tree has become silk. Wax-based oils can be both transparent and with different shades, so that the user has the opportunity to combine the material, achieving the desired effect.

If you want to not only save the family budget, but also get the job done in the shortest possible time, opt for alkyd enamel. This type of paint is widely used at present, in addition to its inexpensive cost, alkyd enamel fits well, the door paint is odorless, durable and you will have the opportunity to choose any shade so that the doors fit harmoniously into the interior of the room.

Interior door painting

How to paint a door in order to quickly cope with the task and not spoil the tree? This question worries many people who decide to do repairs in the room on their own. The lion's share of success depends on the preparatory work, so you first need to prepare the surface for painting.

For work, prepare the following materials and tools:

  • screwdriver or screwdriver;
  • sandpaper;
  • wood putty;
  • trowel or knife for work (you can purchase a palette knife);
  • roller;
  • 2 brushes (wide and narrow).

First you need to remove the door from the hinges. To do this, use a screwdriver and carefully unscrew the fittings (it is best to put all the bolts in a paper bag so as not to lose them, they will still be useful to you). If you do not want to remove the door from the hinges, then when painting it is important to avoid streaks, and immediately eliminate the formed droplets of paint or varnish. This is very inconvenient and it will not work to paint the door with high quality. So it's best to remove the door.

After you have removed the door, it must be placed on a horizontal flat surface (table, stools, goat). Now it is important to remove the paint from the old door (if you paint a new wooden door, then you will not follow these recommendations). Be sure to try to remove the old paint. If you apply a fresh layer of fresh paint over old paint, it will begin to crack as it dries.

It is best to remove the coating with a solvent (designed to remove paint). It must be applied to the entire surface to be painted, and then cover the doors with polyethylene and leave for several hours. It is important that the windows are open during this part of the work.

After the paint softens, it can be removed with a spatula manually, and then clean the entire surface with coarse-grained emery cloth or use a grinder and a grinding wheel to remove the softened paint, and then sand the surface.

After the surface has been treated, it is important to carefully examine the doors, pay attention to dents and chips. If the wood is uneven, it is necessary to putty dents and chips, and wait until the putty is completely dry. Then go over the places where there is a layer of putty with sandpaper again to smooth the areas.

It remains quite a bit, and it will already be possible to start working with paint. An important preparatory moment is the application of a primer. It will reduce paint consumption and improve the adhesion of the two materials. It is important that the primer is chosen correctly. For metal surfaces, this will be one type of material, and for wooden surfaces, a special wood primer. If you purchased a ready-made wooden new door, then ideally it should already be prepared (cleaned and primed).

Let's start painting a wooden door:

  1. When the primer dries, you can start painting the doors. The choice of paint is up to you, but acrylic or alkyd enamel or oil paint is best, which dries quickly, is almost odorless and holds well.
  2. It is best to apply the paint with a foam roller (you can take a “fur” one with short fibers), and not with a brush. You will also need a brush to paint over narrow places where the roller does not reach. Choose quality brushes with stiff bristles. It is very important that the villi do not fall out during painting, as they are very difficult to remove from the paint. When you buy brushes, pull the pile, it should “sit” tight.
  3. It is best to apply the paint in a thin layer, between each layer you need to take a break so that the paint has time to dry. It is important not only to follow this rule, but also to grind the wood with a fine-grained sandpaper.
  4. Once you've stripped off the first coat of paint, don't forget to spray the door with rubbing alcohol to get rid of the smallest dust particles. If there is a lot of debris, you can turn on the vacuum cleaner.
  5. Then we apply another layer of paint and check the result of the work done. If everything suits, we wait until the next layer of paint dries up and proceed to the final stage of painting wooden doors.
  6. You can again walk with a polishing wheel with a soft sponge (not sandpaper) on the canvas. If you drop a few drops of polish on the surface, the paint will shine better.

That's all that needs to be observed when painting wooden doors. Very often we are faced with the fact that this work is dusty and many do not strive to comply with all the technology, especially at home. Therefore, most often the work consists only in the correct application of paint. Naturally, one should not expect high results from such work, especially if the doors were cleaned without removing them from the hinges, and then a layer of paint was applied to the surface. As a result, very often in those places where a lot of material has accumulated, the paint swells and even disappears. Therefore, do not be lazy and do the work perfectly, in compliance with the technology.

How to create a simulated tree effect:

  • paint the door leaf with paint (beige, yellowish or gray paint will do);
  • apply liquid soap to the door with a brush;
  • paint on top with dark paint;
  • the soap will wash off by itself.

If you did everything right, then you should have a beautiful door with a natural pattern. In order not to spoil the surface, you can practice in inconspicuous areas.

Painting wooden doors with varnish

If your task is not to paint the door with colored paint, you can only get by with varnish. To do this, you will need stain and varnish, as well as a roller, brushes and masking tape.

A few words about the choice of material:

  1. Acrylic varnish is absolutely odorless, non-toxic, water-based, durable enough. If necessary, a special hardener can be added to increase the strength of the coating.
  2. Polyurethane-based varnish - very durable, applied over a primer, as it has a dark shade.
  3. Nitrolacquer is a popular, inexpensive, solvent-based material. Best applied with a spray gun, very toxic, therefore not suitable for home use.
  4. Alkyd varnish is waterproof, dries for a long time, the base is a solvent, so when applying, you need to take care of the ventilation of the room. The varnish dries within a day. To speed up the drying process, experts recommend adding hardeners.

For wood, you can find many varnishes on sale, but not all can be used at home. There is a certain rule when choosing a varnish - the more toxic the product, the stronger it is.

We have already described the preparatory part of the work earlier, you need to remove a layer of paint or varnish from the old door. If you have purchased a new wooden door, then it is already ready for painting.

Let's get to work:

  1. We moisten the surface ready for painting with a spray bottle so that the tree does not have time to absorb excess liquid from the stain. This is also necessary in order for the layer of material to lie flat.
  2. We first paint our door horizontally with a stain (it is best to work with a wide brush or velor roller). Work along the fibers, and then change direction and paint over the door leaf again.
  3. After the stain has dried, the door will be slightly lighter than during operation. If you want to get a more juicy color, then it is worth applying a few more layers of material.
  4. If you have not removed the door from the hinges, then at the same time you need to paint over not only the door, but also the door frame so that it looks harmonious.
  5. Using a roller or brush, start applying varnish from the top of the door on the left side of the corner. Work in one direction - left to right. Paint the canvas to the end, then wait until the top coat dries well. Varnish may take longer to dry than paint. It is better to immediately take this moment into account and prepare the working area in advance, make sure that particles of dust and debris do not fall on the varnished surface.
  6. Further, after the first layer of varnish has dried up, we apply a layer of material again, only now we change direction - we make frequent strokes along the fibers.
  7. Again we wait for the layers to dry and apply varnish, changing the direction of the brush - in the opposite direction.
  8. After the door dries, it can be returned to its original place.

A little tip: when you paint the door leaf with varnish, so as not to spoil the tool, wrap the brush and roller in a plastic bag. You can, of course, keep the tool in a jar of varnish, but in a day, while a thin layer of varnish dries, an open jar with a paintwork product can also begin to deteriorate (the solvent tends to evaporate).

How to paint a wooden door with paint, watch this video tutorial: