# Solid Core Doors... Finishing all 6 sides



## csbeepee

I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way of finishing 8' solid core doors onsite without messing up my finish. I've thought of stacking them on top of each other to spray tops and bottoms, then what? 

Standing them doesn't appeal to me either, cause I would need to set them on stickers to keep them off the floor, possibly damaging the finish there. This would also require putting nails into the top, or securing them with QuickTruss' system. The builder does not want holes in the top or bottom and I don't want to have to fill them with putty. 

Maybe I answered my own question, but I'm looking for options. 

Is stacking them the only way? I currently use 1x3's on top of 2x3's cut into 3" square blocks (Thank you Ridersize!). If I stack the doors, I'll need to cut blocks out of 4x4 posts or something. I wonder if 1x3's will be able to hold the weight of an 8' Solid Mahogany door???

Thoughts? 

Thanks!!!


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## PNW Painter

Lay the doors on their side to finish the bottom first. You might want to use a clear coat or Breakthrough. Then stand the doors up and use Surestands to hold up pairs of doors and finish the tops and sides at the same time. This way you don't have to put any holes in the doors because the SureStands use the existing hinge mortise to help you hold up the doors.

https://www.amazon.com/Foampro-132-Sure-Stand-Reusable/dp/B00ATBPC5S












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## csbeepee

Why didn't I think of this? THANK YOU!


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## ridesarize

Thanks for the shout out, Csbeepee. When you go to lay the doors down just remember to pad the surface that they rest on. For example if you were to put the door on edge on the floor to work on them or handle them. Put rags or towels, or clean cardboard on the floor. If you don't the heal of the door will get small dents, pits, etc. Especially if there is any tiny debris or sand there.

I would use pnwpainters advice, and do the top too so I wouldn't have to get on a ladder to shoot down on each door, (I put cardboard over tops of doors to stop the overspray from going over them onto the reverse sides or ceilings, too.) I prefer brushing a sealer into the grain for the tops and bottoms as opposed to spray. Either way may work though.

When the bottoms are dry and you set them up, possibly use a block that is thinner than the door so it won't damage the visible bottom edges of doors. I have grabbed mdf trim scrap and cut them at 1.25" wide so basically they don't stick out from under the door. Then if the doors leans one way while being set up or taken down it won't hurt anything. I use a finish nail gun to shoot those onto the bottoms but I see you don't want holes...


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## dirtyjeep01

PNW Painter said:


> Lay the doors on their side to finish the bottom first. You might want to use a clear coat or Breakthrough. Then stand the doors up and use Surestands to hold up pairs of doors and finish the tops and sides at the same time. This way you don't have to put any holes in the doors because the SureStands use the existing hinge mortise to help you hold up the doors.
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> https://www.amazon.com/Foampro-132-Sure-Stand-Reusable/dp/B00ATBPC5S
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> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Don't use those for solid doors way too weak. Use wood at top of doors and stand them up. Watch too seal doors tops and bottoms and don't lean them on walls too long they will warp


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## kmp

Because solid core doors are so heavy and a pain to move, we all know that the more you move them the more they are prone to damage. There used to be a tool made out of flexible metal with a small patch of roller cover on it that you can dip in sealer and seal the bottoms while they are hanging. You might have to slide some masking under it if flooring is down. Used to call them spoons. Couldn't find any the last time I needed one so I made one with a piece of thin metal with a piece of diy edger tool pad cut and glued to the metal. Needs to be 1" wide by 2" long. Beats moving heavy doors.


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## dirtyjeep01

Spray bombs with shellac


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## csbeepee

What's a spray bomb? We got the doors done. Ended up looking great. Before we stood them up we stack them all on top of saw horses and put shims in between each one.


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## dirtyjeep01

What product did you use on those doors . Spray stain and pre cat lacquer ?


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## csbeepee

SW HIGH Build Precat Lacquer, dull rubbed effect. No stain.


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## dirtyjeep01

What degree sheen


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## woodcoyote

Looks like they came out good.

I like the QuickTruss system as I don't let the guys mess with hinges. It's prone to cause problems on install by removing the hinge from a pre-hung door typically, so we avoid it all together. 

Once their stood up like you have pictured, spray the sides and the top. Then before you stack them in a pile or whatever you do when your done, get some saw horses and lay flat. We usually pad the saw horses with rags from the box to create a cushion and no mar surface. Then just weenie roll the finish on the bottom or spray. I prefer roll the bottom because sometimes with spray the over spray can create a rough finish on something that you previously had smooth. 

Hope that makes sense. Lacquer dries fast so with a couple sets of saw horses should be able to knock out 3-4 doors at a time without issue.


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## csbeepee

The way we did it we were able to stack all the doors on saw horses (horizontallynnie, all at once) with Shims in between them. We use those heavy duty metal saw horses from Home Depot. The pump was already filled with lacquer from shooting all the door casings so I just sprayed a couple coats on the bottom edge before we stood them up. The sure stands are made for 3-hole hinges so we were only able to get one screw in each door. It was a bit sketchy but it got the job done and we had zero issues. I'm looking for a metal version of the sure stands that work with large 4-hole hinges to replace these for our next set of solid core doors.


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## woodcoyote

csbeepee said:


> The way we did it we were able to stack all the doors on saw horses (horizontallynnie, all at once) with Shims in between them. We use those heavy duty metal saw horses from Home Depot. The pump was already filled with lacquer from shooting all the door casings so I just sprayed a couple coats on the bottom edge before we stood them up. The sure stands are made for 3-hole hinges so we were only able to get one screw in each door. It was a bit sketchy but it got the job done and we had zero issues. I'm looking for a metal version of the sure stands that work with large 4-hole hinges to replace these for our next set of solid core doors.


Should give this a shot, see how you like/dislike.


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## ridesarize

^^ He didn't want any holes put into the tops of the doors though.


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## csbeepee

I use those for low end production stuff. SW tells me they have a metal replacement for the Sure stands coming in. I'll let you know what I think of them.


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## woodcoyote

ridesarize said:


> ^^ He didn't want any holes put into the tops of the doors though.





csbeepee said:


> I use those for low end production stuff. SW tells me they have a metal replacement for the Sure stands coming in. I'll let you know what I think of them.


My bad. Didn't read that part or just forgot. Now it makes sense why you did the hinge connectors instead.


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