Wood garage doors look great when seen from outside. It blends and contrasts with the green of your surroundings and imparts your garage a fancy, antique vibe. The problem with wooden doors is that they are exposed to sun, snow, and rain. These elements can cause the stain on your wooden door to fade or discolour over time. To make it look good as new, you can give your wood garage door a fresh stain. A fresh coating of varnish would restore its vibrancy and natural beauty. To paint your wood garage door, you need to do the following:
Unhinge your door
A series of hinges connects one side of your door to the wall of your house. Push the rod-like pin inside the hinge using a hammer and nail. Then, unscrew both wings of the hinge. Set the hinges aside. If the door is heavy, ask a friend or a relative to help you unhinge the door and remove it from its frame.
Remove or unscrew the locks, deadbolts, and knobs
After you have taken down your door from its frame, place it on the floor. Remove the knobs, deadbolts, locks, and other accessories or obstacles that would impede the staining process.
Sand the surfaces of your door with a random orbit sander
You need to even out the surface of your door to make the staining substance stick more effectively. Borrow or rent a random orbit sander from someone and use it to smoothen out the surface of your door. Start with 80-grit sandpaper, and make sure not to miss a single spot. After you have sanded the surface, go over it again with 100-grit sandpaper. Afterwards, follow up with 120-grit. The progressively fining abrasives let you remove chipped wood flakes of various sizes and evens out the small pits on your door surface. If there are corners or parts of your door that the sander can’t reach, use a sharp blade scraper.
Suck off the wood dust with a hand vacuum
Sanding leads to the forming and accumulation of dust. These particles would also affect how your staining substance would stick. Clean your door’s surface and remove the dust using a hand vacuum or a regular vacuum machine with a narrow hose.
Apply sanding sealer
The sanding sealer prevents the stain from seeping too deeply into the pores of your door’s wood. It also allows your stain to set evenly across the surface. Apply one thick coat on the door and leave to dry completely for at least two hours.
Coat the wood with staining material
Once the sanding sealer has set, use a clean cloth or a paintbrush to apply staining liquid on your wood, and wipe off the excess using a separate cloth. Then, wait for two days for the stain to dry, or at least a week if it’s the rainy season. If you want to darken the colour of the wood, apply a second layer of stain coating. Don’t forget to stain the edges of the door as well.
Paint your door with varnish or wood finish
After the stain material has dried, paint the wood with varnish or polyurethane wood finish. Not only would these substances add sheen to your door, but these would also serve as a topcoat that would protect the stain layer and the wood itself. Leave the door to dry for at least a day or two. Once the finish dries, you can apply another coat of varnish or wood finish if you want.
Custom Contracting is a family-owned company that provides custom door installation services in and around Burlington and Hamilton Ontario – get in touch today to see how we can help!
