Refinished my neigbor's front door

[plainpainter 217]

Here is a door I finished for my neighbor. The first photo was how the customer left it - she couldn't deal with it. So I finished it up, I soaked the door in raw linseed oil and heat gunned the remainder off - and spent hours and hours sanding, cleaning with lacuer thinner knifing out the seams - it was endless. Then I finished it off with Pratt & lambert's Vitralite exterior UVA Spar Varnish - two coats.

[CoastalHydro 14]

Wow!!! what in the world was on the door to begin with? I'm assuming it had been painted but it looks like multiple coats of paint. Excellent work!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

And how much would a new door have cost? :lol:

I bet you are proud of that result though. You just moved up in the wood ranks my friend.

Rod!~

[yazbird8 17]

By looking thru the windows of each door at the scenery it looks like it took a very long while...lol.........Beautiful job Dan !

Stephen Andrews

Power Washing

Home & Property

Care & Maintenance

[plainpainter 217]

Yeah I had it for a couple of months - at one point the black walnuts were falling down - I had it outside while heatgunning - and a walnut crashed through the glass. So that is new glass I had put in. If you value your time at anything above $40/hr - then it's at least $1,200 restoration job - one side only! I only charged my neigbor like $550 - but it looks perfect even from inches away. But the door is about a century old on a 137 yr. old New England Victorian house. The wood is southern yellow pine, yeah same stuff as pressure treated - but this is old growth, totally different animal!

And the door weighs a ton to boot! Sure a new door would be cheaper - but nothing can compare to this old world craftsmanship.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Beautimous!

Beth

[James 625]

Great looking work!. I think Front door's of a house can be a biz by it's self.

[GymRat 14]

Beautiful job Dan, but that is one ugly door. I know you said it is old and all that stuff, but I guess it matches the design of the rest of the house and I must not appreciate good craftsmenship. I also noticed that you fixed their sticking door problem, because in the before picture, the door is not fully closed, and in the after photo, it is.

[RPetry 564]

Daniel,

100 yr. old wood door, wow! Consider yourself fortunate to work on such rare wood and your customer lucky to own and take care of such a piece of history. Nice job.

Live Free or Live in Massachusettes.

- unknown

[plainpainter 217]

You think that door is ugly, John? It is like an old farmers storm door - everybody in the neighborhood has fallen in love with it. Of course there is a more ornate period type victorian front door just behind it. About the sticking door - I hadn't noticed that, then it dawned on me that I gave a quick belt sanding to all 4 edges - that must have done it?

About front doors being a business in itself - I redid the front door across the street from this door. the paint was bubbling badly from the last paint job. I heatgunned all 8+ layers of the old lead oil paint off. Reprimed, filled, sanded, primed again - two coats of high gloss oil.

[danster 15]

Awesome job, that's the way a restoration job should be done.

:cheers:

Dan

[Greg R 82]

Nice work there bud! Doors are time consuming - a little more of the perfectionist in you is forced out. We've done quite a few strips on garage doors and they always seem to eat me up financially when all is said and done. There's just no easy way to get all the paint off other than by hand (ugh!)

[James 625]

I also do and have stripped many cedar garage doors. The design and choice of product are the main issues with garage doors. And mill glaze is a huge problem. These 3 things cause early failure. Most people just reapply product which will compound the problem.

[bforbis 14]

Hey Dan...I am with Rick. There is NOTHING like working with and preserving old wood. You can smell the difference and feel the textures. Most people would have probally pull it off and replaced.

My mom would work on a old piece fof furniture for many months and when it was completed....WOW!

Great Job

[A and J POWERWASHING 64]

great job ,door looks great

[plainpainter 217]

Thanks for all the kudos, guys.