Staining Doors

I have been dragging my feet on getting the doors stained for some time now.  No reason really, I am busy...........I can always find something I would rather do................I have a list of excuses.

Linda got me fired up last night about getting some of the smaller projects done rather than focusing on the larger ones.  Lots of little progress is good too.

These are the main doors out to our deck.

It would have been much easier had I sanded and stained them the day they were installed.

I am now faced with water stains, oily finger prints and spiders.

I started out with a coarse 100 sandpaper on an electric palm sander.  I filled the nail holes with stain-able wood filler and after that was dry I sanded it again with 220 sandpaper.  They came out pretty good.  There is a little bit of water stain at the bottom but that will be covered by the, hmmmm, don't know what it's called.  The rubber strip that goes on the bottom that keeps the cold air out.

Some things to be wary of.  Careful with that gorilla glue.  It foams all out of the cracks and cannot be sanded. 

I used this tool to scrape it out.  You have to be very careful here to so that you don't gouge your wood.

This is a messy job.  They suggested using a brush and brushing on the stain cross grain and wiping it off with the grain. 

This just flipped stain everywhere.

I ended up using a rag to put it on and wipe it off.

There were some surprises along the way.

The caulking that they used on the edge of the glass will not take the stain.

There are several places where they used a non stain-able filler.  I could not see it at all once the door was sanded and cleaned but it sure does show up when the door is stained. I'm not sure what to do about that.

I'm not even sure what this mark is.  It was clear as a bell before I stained it and now it is black.

I am thinking of a new door handle that is on a plate (since this is right above the deadbolt) unless I can sand it out and re-stain it.  I am awaiting consultation on that from the husband.

All in all I am very happy with the color.  I want a red door but not a bright red painted door.

This color is Cabernet.  It needs to dry overnight and then I will seal it.

So, one more little project (very nearly) done. 

Thanks Linda!

Comments

[marye]

the door looks great! You can get a gel stain and go over that non-stainable wood filler with it and that should do the trick..
I think I am going to paint mine..I better decide soon..it is going to rain this weekend..blah!

[Jane]

Thanks! Also thanks for the tip on the gel stain. My Dad says it's glue and not filler. I'll try the gel stain otherwise he says I should sand it out and put my own stainable filler in. It's never as easy as first suspected huh?

[Linda]

!!!!! YEAH !!!!!