Painting Wood Doors

[Jeff Beecher]

Hello all. We recently purchased a new (to us) home, and I have a question. The house was built in 1980, and all of the interior doors and millwork are stained DARK brown, to the point of being oppresive. The doors are flat panel birch with a very splashy grain and in excellent condition. The trim appears to be hemlock. My wife has decided that we need to paint the doors and trim a semi gloss bright white. My question is: does anyone out there know how to seal the doors before painting so the grain patterns do not show through? I have considered sanding sealer, but do not know if it will build up enough. Another idea I have had is to go to the local auto body supply house and purchase a high build auto primer, but the wife thinks I am over thinking things. Any suggestions?

[JOHN BRODERICK]

HI Jeff.

If i was going to do a job like this for myself i would give the doors a coat or two of Zinnser BIN primer and let dry.
Then i would cover the door with a dry wall filler to get rid of the grain IF you wanted to loose the grain.
Lay the filler on in very thin coats (because this stuff shrinks) using a wide filling knife, it will dry quicker, and you will only need to flatten the filler on last coat then paint over as you would normaly do with primer, undercoat and top coat paints.
Sorry if my terminology for some of the products is not what you know but you will get the gist.

John

[Phil Phelps]

Jeff, since birch isn't open grain, I think that an oil base undercoat will be all you need. I like Benjamin Moore products. I use Bin pigmented shellac quite often if I have the chance to spray the project. What paint do you intend to use, water base or oil?

[Jeff Beecher]

Thank you for the replies. I do want to lose the grain, as wood doors that are just painted over tend to look just that. Painted over wood. It has been one of those little things that get under my skin. I like the idea of using drywall filler, but i wonder if lightweight spackle wood be easier. I will probably use Sherwin Williams Pro Classic water based after adding Flotrol. I have painted kitchen cabinets with it in the past and had a very smooth finish using a high density foam roller. I have an airless spayer, as well as a siphon feed pot sprayer, and a (cheap) Gravity feed HVLP gun. Another thought I had would be to strip the doors and refinish in a lighter stain, but i don't know if I could get all the dark stain out of the grain. Any thougts on that?

[Phil Phelps]

You have spray equipment, use a high build lacquer primer/undercoat. I would think two coats, per door, would kill the grain. If you are looking for a smooth finish, why not use the airless? I'd use a fine finish tip. They should be as as slick as glass.