How to modernise old doors?

9 years ago

Hi,

I'm not a keen diy-er so I'll need to get someone else to help sort these doors out.

I'm trying to modernise the whole house and the 14 doors I have in the property are really paining me to replace.

Does anyone have any smart relatively cost effective ways of transforming these doors?

Thanks in advance

Featured Answer

Áine Ní Aileacháin

9 years ago

Please don't blend them in to the wall! My brother was nearly burnt in a house fire when he was 8 because in a dark green room, he couldn't see the dark green door through the smoke. Luckily, my sister came in and saved him. You should always, for safety's sake, have some contrast between your walls and doors.

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Comments (18)

alant1000
9 years ago
It depends in your budget but an easy option is paint white and new handles. If you hire someone to do it they'll want to strip the varnish, sand and 3 layers so maybe not so cheap.

I had the same dilemma and bought new internal doors from doorsworld for about 30 each, quicker and possibly cheaper.
Matthew Decorator
9 years ago
If you want to paint the doors you don't have to strip them at all. You
Can paint them, without sanding them as well. Paint them in shellac
Zinnser, then undercoat and top coat them
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mrlakha
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the feedback! I had a look at doors world and they didn't have great reviews so I'm a bit wary especially as I need 14 of them :(
Matthew Decorator
9 years ago
Them doors would be a lovely job to paint.

Zinnser both door edges then with a 9" roller roll both the faces.
Would take approximately 1 minute. Take the handle off before hand.
mrlakha
Original Author
9 years ago
Matthew - how far are you from watford? May have some work for you.
Matthew Decorator
9 years ago
Sorry bud quite a way, over 2 hours without traffic.

Most professional decorators should know about Zinnser. An alternative to use is aluminium primer, then undercoat etc.
Frances C
9 years ago
We have similar doors and I was trying to avoid painting them white. Does anyone have any other suggestions to upcycle them? Having said that, after photos of your door might persuade met oho with Matthews advice!
PRO
Making Wood Work
9 years ago
Little greene paints make an emulsion that can be used on woodwork and radiators as well as walls. So you can make the doors less offensive by fading them into the wall. The only thing to watch is some colours look very different depending on whether you apply with a roller or a brush ie when I toiuched up a mark on a rollered wall with a brush in certain lights it looked like I'd used the wrong paint! if you do a test and find the paint does not stick to the varnish, used a coat of mdf acrylic primer first.
Matthew Decorator
9 years ago
You wouldn't touch a door up though. Especially seeing as they are flat.

Zinnser them, undercoat them then for arguments say gloss them.

Any finish on wood is impossible to blend in so you would paint the whole door again.

Roll them then lay them off with a brush,
Matthew Decorator
9 years ago
Plus I've never heard of anyone blending doors in with the wall, no offence meant.
Aline Browers
9 years ago
dark painted doors would look more elegant. I would replace the door handles. are your switches/light fittings brass? the handles could be brass as well.
Tani H-S
9 years ago
Are they hollow? Ours were (still are from the ones we haven't replaced yet) Our joiner is getting us new ones for like £15 each. They will be the standard white 4 panel ones but they do look nicer.

I have tried painting one from downstairs as a chalk board but the finish isn't brilliant tbh.

We also have them as bi-folds in our lounge which we definitely can't afford to replace, so my plan is to put beading on them to give them some shape. Loads of DIY videos on how to do it, but basically glue & pin thin strips on to give the impression they are panelled doors instead of flat ones. If you just want flat doors then any good paint system would be ok (light sand to get rid of the varnish, prime and couple of top coats) As mentioned, zinssers do a one does all base/undercoat but it's not cheap!
PRO
ProSpray London
9 years ago
If your looking for a professional finish, have them resprayed. www.prospraylondon.com
Hayley Whitfield
8 years ago
i would panel them by buying pound land notice boards, taking the back out, sticking 2 wood frames to the doors, painting them and walah you have a brand new panneld door x
Ugne M
8 years ago
Matthew, could you please tell me which of the Zinsser primers to use? Is it the 123 one? And also is undercoat just a coat of paint? We need to paint our doors so it is very useful info. Thanks :)
Tani H-S
8 years ago
I've just painted mine - used the bin (red tin) for over varnish.
I very lightly sanded, cleaned, then applied 2 x coats of BIN with a small foam roller (don't overload it with paint to avoid runs) then over that I applied a primer/undercoat and then 2 x top coats of acrylic eggshell. The finished look is smooth and almost spray painted.
Mine are fixed insitu so I couldn't take them off for spraying.

I mainly did the undercoat because the BIN is off white so I wanted a good white base.
fincahouse
8 years ago
Just buy new doors. There are some great oak doors that might work out less expensive than getting in someone to repaint. You could have a chippy to hang the new doors. An expert can do it in a couple of minutes.

How to modernise old doors?

Áine Ní Aileacháin

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