How to prep a prefinished door for refinishing?

[David Ruhland]

On the "honey do" list is bedroom door"!

381555

It was installed in the house when it was built in 2003. It appears to be lacquer, some of the stain is missing as well. (see below door knob) I assume i need to scuff up the old top coat remove any loose material, re stain the bare area and apply a new topcoat-is this correct? I will be using a satin Water Based topcoat.

If anyone has any "Stain color" ideas please feel free to drop in. I am hoping its a "golden Oak"

All tips appreciated!

Thanks

[John TenEyck]

It doesn't look stained to me, but it's hard to say. If it's not stained I would chemically strip the finish off and then refinish it. A light sanding followed by a coat of Sealcoat shellac to seal in any contamination and then your topcoat. Pretty simple. If it is stained, then the approach I would take is to strip it and then stain the entire door. Trying to stain bare spots is usually an exercise in frustration.


John

[Jim Becker]

I agree with John in every respect. The only valid way to refinish this is a complete strip, prep and then whatever floats your boat from an appearance and top coat perspective.

BTW, there is no such "color" as "Golden Oak"...those are made up names by various stain/dye manufacturers and are not consistent nor representative of a particular "real" color. They might be "close" to each other in a very general sense, but never the same. And component manufacturers don't use the same products that mere mortals can buy off the shelf, either. ;)

[David Ruhland]

so i THINK its nothing more than a sanding sealer and clear coat. i guess i wasnt clear , i had planned on redoing the whole door, but was trying to figure out what color the stain underneath was? the more i learn about finishing i think it was prob just a sanding sealer and solvent based lacquer that has yellowed over the years.

So your saying to ""strip" the lacquer off then instead of just a sanding?

Strip it off, sand, Seal coat Shellac, then spray with WB topcoat?

[Jim Becker]

Sanding off a finish can be quite dangerous, particularly where a veneered surface is likely...such as in a flat door like that. Stripping is less risky relative to damage, but, of course, has to be done in a safe manner for personal health reasons. (outside the home with respirator and heavy gloves, etc.)

[Wayne Lomman]

Before you strip or do anything else, apply a bit of a clear coat to a bare spot and see how it matches. From the photo it doesn't look like much colour has been lost, just clear coat. It will give you an idea whether staining is required. Cheers

[John TenEyck]

To follow-up on what Jim said, sanding likely won't get the old finish out of the pores, chemical stripping will. That will give you a uniform substrate on which to apply your new finish.

Stripping a lacquered flat door like that will take less than an hour.

John

[David Ruhland]

Well today is the day! I am hoping its just a clear coat over sanding sealer, cause if it doesn't match the current wood work i will be redoing it to match too! ARRGH... I did a light "test sand" and the powder is white so i am assuming that is the clear... just wish i know if it was color underneath ....and matching is gonna be a challenge i believe.

Just to clarify one last thing, lets say the door did not have any cosmetic problems and i just wanted to apply a new coat of clear, would i still need to strip it before i did that or would a light scuff work? ( I have 5 other doors in the house i would like to prevent this problem from happening if possible)

[John TenEyck]

If you just want to topcoat I would first thoroughly clean the door with mineral spirits or Naptha, then soap and water, followed by a light scuff sanding with 320 or 400 grit. Then I would spray a light coat of Sealcoat shellac because it sticks to anything and anything sticks to it, and then your new topcoats. I've done exactly that on old hollow core doors and they are doing well 3 years later.

John