Door finish

[Tom Godley]

Hi:

I recently purchased a converted church and am working on many issues !!

The interior woodwork is still unfinished in most of the house -- much will be primed and painted (poplar and pine/fir) but I wanted to have the doors contrast the painted woodwork.

The doors came out of an old NY hotel -- they are now paint free -- but not perfect. They are big/ thick doors -- no exotic wood. I think that they will need some type of "covering stain" (my term) to make them match.

I have done some spraying -- but do not think I am up to this -- I just would like a starting place ....... and then attempt to find someone!

Any ideas

TG

[Ed Peters]

might take what you see as a defect and turn it into an attractive feature. Assuming that the doors are structurally sound, what have you got to lose? Give them a sanding with 120 grit paper on a random orbit sander and then wipe on the stain of your choice. When it dries, seal them with polyurethane and enjoy the comments to come. Would love to see some pictures of your project.

Ed

[Tom Godley]

I believe that I will need a spray finish that has some type of color (stain) with it.

What kind of finish is used on less expensive furniture -- like the stuff at the "bombay company"

TAG

[jason lambert]

They make a varity of stains to add to laquire and poly to color it.

[Jim Becker]

Tom, what species are the doors made from? (Can you identify?) You may need to work them carefully using some dyes to even things out before going further on your finishing. Once you do that, spraying de-waxed shellac, which can be tinted nicely with alcohol soluble dyes will help you get them ready for whatever you choose for your final top coating.

Your property really sound very interesting. My general contractor (Michael Lohman) and I were chatting the other morning about a converted church he did awhile back. (we were specifically talking about the tile guy he will be using on my addition) It's really kewel what can be done with structures like that! Oh and his paint sub is "really good"...

[Tom Godley]

I do not know what wood the doors are made out of -- Some are solid - some have a thick overlay. I do believe that the intent was to paint them - most early hotel doors were painted. They are not oak -- but a few could be maple.

I am at a loss with contractors in the area - I actually contacted an architect today -- will be meeting him on Friday.

What location was the church your guy worked on.

TAG

[Jim Becker]

What location was the church your guy worked on.

'Don't know, but I'll ask. It's likely in Bucks or at least nearby. Michael's out of Pipersville. I interviewed a bunch of GCs, but in the end the attention to detail and outstanding references let me to where we're at today in our project.

On the architects, I used Jim Gray of Kaufman & Gray, but also liked Raphael out of D'town.

On the doors, you may have to make a decision to keep some "natural" and paint some. The latter may be those that are using a mixture of species or a "non-attractive" board selection for the components they are built up from. So many doors that were intended for paint used strong material, but didn't have the thought put in for attractiveness "in the buff" that doors built for clear finishes were. There may also be multiple species involved. I recently saw some doors down at Alan Turner's school/shop that they were restoring. They are out of old Philadelphia buildings and are very impressive doors. A number of them had three or more species in them, although they were well constructed and dark stains/finishes masked a lot, if not all, the differences.

[Tom Godley]

I had a sample sent to me -- I have radiant heat in my other house and love it.

This is a very interesting product -- 1 1/4 Thick -- It may be just the ticket.

BUT..... I did not check the price -- that always ends up being a problem!

TAG

[Tom Godley]

I put the above in the wrong place -- I wanted it on my shop floor post -- OH well!