# Refinishing exterior wood door



## Pierson Painting (Mar 25, 2011)

My client has and exterior wood door, some sort of pine, early 1900's, 7' tall. It's kind of banged up and they want if refinished, here's a picture. The question is, do I need to sand down to bare wood or can I just wipe stain over it and seal? I'm thinking probably need to sand since there are little dents. 
Any suggestions appreciated.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Depends on what they want and how much they are willing to pay. Yes, you could just clean it, give it a wipe of stain, and clear coat it and it would look way better than it does now. But that is pretty much a DIY solution, not that of a professional.
A full prep, which includes cleaning and sanding prior to the restaining is the proper way to do it. But obviously more time will be involved and the cost to do it will be considerably higher.
Also, just looking at the grain pattern showing in the photo, I would suspect that it is made out of Doug Fir rather than pine.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

If they are actually wanting it "refinished", your going to have to sand down to bare wood or it's just not going to look good. Expect atleast 8-10 hrs labour per side.


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## Pierson Painting (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks for the input, that's what I figured. For these clients $ is no issue. 


RH said:


> Depends on what they want and how much they are willing to pay. Yes, you could just clean it, give it a wipe of stain, and clear coat it and it would look way better than it does now. But that is pretty much a DIY solution, not that of a professional.
> A full prep, which includes cleaning and sanding prior to the restaining is the proper way to do it. But obviously more time will be involved and the cost to do it will be considerably higher.
> Also, just looking at the grain pattern showing in the photo, I would suspect that it is made out of Doug Fir rather than pine.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Pierson Painting said:


> Thanks for the input, that's what I figured. For these clients $ is no issue.


Then give it the full treatment. You might even try seeing if they will go for T&M in order for you to cover your butt if the prep takes longer than expected.


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## copper custom coating's (3 mo ago)

if you have access to a sand blaster and a good air compressor you can use walnut shells to strip the door fast with out harming the wood at all


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