- Wood door restoration is a great option to up the property value of your home by restoring your front door to its original look.
- Wood door restoration requires numerous steps that are crucial to perform correctly
- Choose Presevan to restore your door the right way.
Whether your door is very tarnished, in need of repair, or just needs an upgrade by your own standards, try wood door restoration. Wood door restoration requires several labor intensive steps like removing wood rot, sanding, and applying new stain and varnish. While the steps take time and energy, they can yield tremendous benefits. Not only can it increase the curb appeal of your home, but it can potentially save your door from rot and decay.
What Is Wood Door Restoration
Have you ever thought that your front door is lacking the magic character it used to have when you first bought your home? If this is true, you should look into trying wood door restoration. Wood door restoration is the process of restoring your door without replacing it with an entirely new door. Restoring your wood door is generally much more cost effective than replacing it as well as beneficial to the environment by causing less waste. Giving your door this extra boost can improve the whole appearance of your home.
Why Is Wood Door Restoration Important
While wood door restoration provides restored aesthetic appeal, it also provides structural improvements around damage in the door of itself. Substantially used doors can suffer from many problems like usage dents, old holes, and wood rot. This damage over time can deteriorate your door and even render it useless. The most cost effective and time saving method to repair the door is to restore it. This can be done yourself but oftentimes is best done by a professional.
Benefits Of Wood Door Restoration
Wood door restoration is important for several reasons. Interested in maintaining the curb appeal of your home? Try wood door restoration. Wood door restoration can make your door look like new, without ever ordering an expensive new door. Plus, wood door restoration can improve the entire look of your home just by doing a little bit of restoring. Besides aesthetic appeal, restoring your door can also improve the structural integrity of the door so it will last for years to come.
DIY How To: Wood Door Restoration
A DIY wood door restoration requires quite a few steps, which you can do yourself, or recruit the expertise of a professional. Either method is effective, but using the assistance of professionals, like those at Preservan, can be much more cost effective than executing this large project yourself.
1. Remove The Door From The Frame
The first step of a DIY wood door restoration is removing the door. Removing the door from the framing surprisingly requires several steps. It is important to stack some wood blocks beneath the bottom edge to help support the door. (Solid doors can be very heavy so if your door is solid wood, make sure to follow these steps carefully, or get assistance doing this step). Remove the hinges using a flat headed screwdriver. Now slide the door out off its hinges and place the door on an elevated surface, like a workbench. It is important to set your workbench up somewhere where there is shade and good ventilation. You don’t want to expose the door to the sun while staining or applying varnish.
2. Remove the Hardware From The Door
Once you remove the door from the hinges, it is time to remove the hardware attached to the door., Be sure to remove the deadbolt, handle, mail slot, knocker, kick plate, any lock covers, and anything else attached to the door. If your door has a window or stained glass that cannot be removed, make sure to cover the glass with newspaper for protection.
3. Sand Off The Existing Finish
This next step is detail oriented and can be time intensive. Once you’ve removed all the hardware & protected the glass, use a power sander to go over the flat surfaces. Sand any detailed points by hand to make sure all varnish & paint is removed from the nooks and crannies. For the more intricate carvings, start with 60-grit paper and work your way up to 180-grit paper for a smooth, even result. This will be tedious, but well worth it in the end.
4. Fix Any Wood Rot
Wood rot can start as a small problem, but can eventually move through your door’s entire frame. Any & all wood rot MUST be removed & fixed to ensure the work on restoring your door is not wasted. If not addressed & treated, wood rot will continue to spread, destroying your door in the process. If you discover wood rot on your door, follow these steps next.
Remove Rotted Wood
Use a saw or a chisel to remove damaged wood from the door. Be careful that you do not remove too much wood, or cut too deep. Do make sure you remove all rotted wood For larger damage, you may need to add more wood, so long as you create a viable surface for the new wood or wood filler to attach to.
Add Wood Epoxy
Fill any hole or space with a generous amount of wood filler. Make sure not to leave any holes, as gaps can cause stability issues. Use the scraper to make sure the wood filler is level & even with the rest of the door frame. This is one of the most important steps, as the quality of your work will contribute to the final look of the finish. Lastly, allow the wood filler to harden. This part could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on the type and how much wood filler you used.
Sand Down Excess
Once the wood filler has fully hardened, use sandpaper to smooth it out. It is recommended that you use 150 to 200 grit sandpaper, as a lower grit could make unsightly scratchy marks. If you find that any area is not fully filled, you will have to apply more wood filler, following the steps mentioned above.
5. Clean the Door of All Dust And Debris
The next step is to simply clean off all dust and debris from the door. The door should be completely clean before you add stain and varnish if you want to get the best possible results.
6. Apply New Stain And Varnish
Once you have completely cleaned the door of any dust and debris as well as repaired any wood rot, it’s time to repaint the door. Choose the paint or varnish you desire and apply it to the door evenly & smoothly. Use a rag to clean up any spills or build up in corners. Allow the paint or stain to fully dry.
7. Reattach Hardware To The Door
Once the coating of stain has completely dried, you are ready to reattach all hardware to the door. Be sure to give your hardware a good clean up while you are in the process of fixing your door, polishing any brass fixtures. This will enhance the total package you are trying to present to both yourself, and to others looking at your home.
8. Put Door Back On Frame
Once the hardware is back on the door, rehang it in the frame and admire your DIY wood door restoration hard work!
How Long Does It Take To Do Wood Door Restoration
This process of wood door restoration can take anywhere from a few hours to an entire day. This largely depends on your skill level as well as the amount of damage your door has already sustained. Considering all the steps involved, it is without a doubt more time and more cost effective to have a professional like the ones at Preservan execute this task for you. Wood door restoration is what we do, and we understand the processes involved in getting doors restored.
Choose Preservan For Wood Door Restoration
Restoring a wood door is extremely rewarding yet incredibly intensive work. That’s why the wood door restoration professionals at Preservan are here to help you. Our Preservan team is full of experienced wood repair technicians who know the ins and outs of this process and are here to help you at a lower cost, and in a lot less time. We specialize in wood rot repair & restoration on doors, windows, and more! And we have refurbished for many happy customers. If your door is in desperate need of repair, don’t replace it. Have the professionals at Preservan restore your door for up to 90% of the cost of replacing. Visit us online or request a quote from Preservan today!
Our highly experienced and friendly technicians ensure that every repair is low cost and quickly executed, leaving you with a wood window sash that looks good as new! If you are interested in learning more about what we can do for your wood rot, visit our website. You can also book an appointment, or give us a call with any questions you may have about wood window sash repair. If your wood window sill has wood rot or dry rot, contact Preservan Wood Rot Repair. Our wood rot repair experts are ready to save your building from the dangers of wood rot. Our epoxy treatment can repair wood window sashes without costly replacement and is eco-friendly too. Check out our website for more details and to schedule an appointment to have wood window sash repairs or to repair wooden windows at your home.
