So I had 8 doors that I needed to paint upstairs. Upon the recommendation from a professional door installer friend, I linked them together at the top and sprayed them.


In all, it took about 2 hours to set up the office in the new house into a spray booth, and about 30 minutes in all to put 3 light coats on the doors over 6 hours time.

I think I'll leave the spray booth in place until I get the doors for the ground floor. That worked pretty well.

Make sure that you seal the top and bottom really well.

As with most painting jobs the better the prep the less time it takes to actully paint. Nice work, looking good and getting close to the finish line. . ..

That is nice. One of my employees has a painting background, we did the same thing for the doors in my current house. I used a white pigmented something. I like those 5 panel doors. They look really sharp.

My favorite expression I hear from some "professional painters" is "the over-spray will cover the top and bottom." I never say "I told you so" when they bring in their warped/bowed door, usually an entry door as well, I just sell them a new door - no questions asked!

It's great seeing you and Salmo G. doing quality work and some contractors still provide that level of service - interestingly they are the ones with plenty of work during this crappy economy.

Shellac most likely. A sprayed oil based enamel done properly will yield the best finish on a door bar none. The top and bottom should seal if properly primed and painted. Nice job

Old school----the right school. As Jerry stated make sure the tops and bottoms are sealed properly. Lookin good Dog!

4th coat today (all relatively light coats), and yes, I sealed the tops before I painted them. I'll seal the bottoms before I hang them.

I would say that the biggest issue we have with the custom doors that we makeis the idiot contractor that leans the door up against a freshly taped sheetrock wall, leaves it there for the weekend and doesn't understand why the door is warped.

Yep, it was shellac. I remember cutting it down with water, and spraying all of the doors with light coats. It came out really nice (when my painting buddy helped, my turn - not so much).

JG-

somehow, I thought you were involved with the aircraft industry - I hope you aren't putting wood doors in airplanes! We must have the same customer base

No planes here. We build custom doors, along with mouldings, cabinets, sash, almost anything out of wood. Our doors are a true mortise and tenon with thick veneer(1/8") faces built to order.

Ya but, they should be sealed with someting before they leave your shop!

If there is one thing I hate, it is having to be serious for any length of time on an internet fishing board, but as a PSA, here goes:

Sealing the door will not prevent the warping/bowing that JG is describing - it is the weight of the door itself that causes it to "sag". Doors should be stored "flat" at all times unless they are prehung, in which case, they should be installed as soon as possible.

JG-

it's always nice to hear about a company producing quality handmade products!!!

NO [censored]!
I was just tryin ta get a rise outa Jerry. Jerry happens to work at one of the best millwork shops Seattle has to offer.
Prehung doors are NOT an option for me.

I'm clueless without the emoticons in posts Well, Jerry didn't bite, but I sure did!! Yeah, we do a lot of hollow core prehungs here and it is much better than the box stores, but they are still just hollow core doors. People down here in this market have champagne dreams, but a beer budget (keystone light), so I don't get to work with high-end products often enough....

We seal them with $5 bills dipped in Titebond 2.

Being a fish, I bonked him.

Nice work Andy. When I bought my last house I sprayed the interior and all the old fir louvered and paneled doors to update them. it sure is a nice way to paint! I also made a spray booth but havent ever strung the doors together like that. I use a hanging rack with eye hooks and j hooks screwed into the tops of the doors so I can let them hang freely.


After fisnishing all my recent brickwork, I started on repainting all our house trim, and that included spraying all our exterior doors. They turned out great, much better than you can ever do with a roller or brushwork. As a former forman on a painting crew, I have a high appreciation for a high quality spray finish.

Hmmm, my doors came pre-hung and pre-finished, stained and lacquer I think.