My Doors

[JohnB]

Apart from the stone walls that are buried under an inch or two of cement, there aren't a lot of original features left in my house. I'm currently working on the only room with an original beamed ceiling, and am reusing what I assume are the original internal doors, that I found in a shed.

They have been painted with a wood grain effect that I think is original, and its been painted over the hinges and latch. I've had to swap the hinges and latch round on one of them, so now have patches of bare pine! I haven't done anything else to the doors yet. What can I do with them to clean them up, and hide or tone down the bare bits?

 

[spooksbooks]

You probably can't go far wrong just using some wood stain and wax to match the general door colour. It will still be visible to some extent, but the rehanging of the door is part of the history of the door, so perhaps being able to see the evidence is not a bad thing.

 

[JohnB]

I'm happy with showing the history, as nearly everything I'm doing to the room is reusing old materials.

 

[Penners]

You'll never get a perfect disguise of the old hinge positions, but you should be able to make a decent job which, as spooksbooks says, admits to the history of the door, while making it look acceptable.

First you need to fill the screw holes with an appropriately coloured wood filler. While you're sanding the filler down smooth, try to get rid of the stain bleed that was under the hinges.

Lightly stain the bare wood to a rough match with the base colour of the original woodgraining (ie: the colour in between the dark grain streaks).

Choose a finishing glaze or varnish that's a close as possible in colour and sheen to the original wood graining. Don't rely on the colour chart as your guide - do a test piece and allow it to dry, to check for a true match.

I don't think there's enough room on these small areas to use a proper woodgraining tool, so to touch in the woodgrain effect I would use a brush called a flogger (see below). This has long, flexible bristles and is designed to give a streaky, woodgrain finish. If you're not used to using one of these, do a few practice runs on some scrap wood first.

 

[JohnB]

Thanks Penners. I think I'll have to add that to my to-do list! Maybe a curtain on the inside would be easier, as its a rather thin door, and it would help keep the room warmer .

 

[JoceAndChris]

I'm glad you posted this John as I have exactly the same issue with a woodgrained door that I'm currently unsure about. Keep the old woodgrain finish - or just paint over? Mine's an awful lot worse than yours - I'd have no hesitation in keeping that old finish, warts and all.

Yes, I'd put a curtain on the door if it's cold and draughty - it looks like there's room for a portiere rod - http://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/productnode/4904/Portiere-Rods

The curtain can always come off in summer months if you'd like to reveal the charm of the door.

 

[JohnB]

The other door isn't in such good condition, but I haven't built the wall it's going in yet so I'm ignoring it for now! At least the hinges are on the right side.

The portiere rod looks interesting. I'll have to see what I can knock up with reclaimed materials . I'd have to remove the coat hooks though, exposing more bare wood!