Nothing makes as much of a curb appeal impact and draws attention to your home as a beautiful front door. If your wood front door has seen better days, maybe it’s about time to have it refinished. Time and weather may wear away your wood front door if it is not taken care of properly.
The good news is though proper care and maintenance can provide sun and weather protection to doors. Wood front doors should be re-coated as part of the regular maintenance. This should take place every 12 months for South or West exposure and every 18 to 24 months for North or East exposure so that the doors remain striking and rich.
Wood stain is great at emphasizing the natural beauty of the wood surface highlighting the grain pattern. Despite being typically neutral, wood stain can be used to create a dramatic effect with bold shades.
Whether you want to clean up an old wood door or finish a new door, learning to stain doors is a great DIY project. With the right tools and the right process, you can stain wood doors to highlight their natural beauty and textures.
Everything you need to stain or recoat your door can be found at your local home improvement store: stain and varnish, stain tray, pads, sponges, bristle brush, gloves, rags, and sandpaper. You might also want to have a large tarp to spread out on the floor so you can rest the door on it and avoid a mess when staining your door. In this article you can find seven easy steps to stain your wood front door.
Seven Steps to Stain a Door
1. Choosing the Right Stain Color
Staining an exterior wood door is the most common and popular way of finishing it. Stain works by being absorbed by the wood which causes it to take on the color of the stain.
There are plenty of stain colors to choose from. If you want to see the grain through the stain, then you should choose a transparent or semi-transparent wood stain but if you want to hide the grain, then you can use a thicker opaque stain which will give better coverage.
As a general rule of thumb when staining a high-quality wood, you will typically want to use a stain which allows the grain to be seen. If you are using lower quality wood, then you might want to use opaque stains which will conceal more of the grain.
Nonetheless, many people prefer either a light or dark colored stain and this is all completely down to personal preference.
Water-based, Gel-based, alcohol-based, and oil-based stains are all suitable for exterior doors. Some stains, often called stain varnish, have a polyurethane varnish mixed into the stain.
However, some stains are just stains, and you will need to apply a layer of varnish after staining. When choosing the stain color, it’s important that you apply it on a small piece of wood from the same material as your front door and see how it looks in natural light to get a sense of how the stain will look on your entrance door.
2. Removing the Door from The Frame
It’s important to remove the door and lay it out flat to stain it properly. Most wood doors should be able to be removed quite easily. To remove the door, pull the pins that hold the hinges together using a screwdriver.
From the bottom, push out the hinge pin with a hammer and nail, by inserting the nail into the bottom of the hinge and lightly tapping it upward. Once the pin is mostly out of the hinge, push the pins up until they release the hinge plate on the door, then remove it.
Next step is to remove the hardware. To avoid staining the lockset and other hardware, it’s important to unscrew everything that’s connected to the door and remove them so you can stain the wood and only the wood.
If your door has glass panels, make sure to cover them with some paper and tape, so your stain does not get on the glass. Now, it’s time to lay your door flat on the space you’ve prepared for staining. Make sure you’ve spread a tarp or tack cloth out to avoid a mess.
3. Sanding the Door
Sanding the wood down will help open up the fibers and even out its texture so that each coat of stain is consistent. Use an orbital finish sander or sanding pad with a 220-grain sandpaper and sand in the direction of the wood grain. Remember not to overdo the sanding part, because if the door is too smooth, it won’t hold the stain.
4. Staining the Door
When you’re handling stain, it’s important to wear protective clothing, gloves, eyewear, and respiration if you’re indoors and avoid contact to your face and skin. Pour the stain into a staining tray and apply it to the door surface using a pad or brush. Make sure that excess stain drips off before applying to the door.
As you paint the stain onto the door, move in the direction of the wood grain once more. Start with a soft touch, and then go back over it with slightly more pressure. If you choose to use a brush, you may want to go back over the stain to ensure that brush strokes are well blended in.
When using a wipe, after the first light pressure wipes and without adding more stain, apply an even pressure and wipe the area three to eight times in the direction of the grain, in a singular motion, and without stopping. Always refer to the manufacturer’s directions and use the appropriate tools and techniques for the stain type you’re using.
5. Wiping Down the Door
Once the door is fully stained, and varnished, you will need to wipe off excess stain using a lint-free rag. This will help by eliminating lingering streaks and drips, which can cause uneven staining, and speeding up the drying time.
6. Letting the Door Air Dry
After wiping your door down, it’s time to let it completely air dry. It usually takes around 24 hours for stain and varnish to dry. Once one side of the door is completely dry, you can turn it over and stain the other side. If you want a deeper, richer look, you can apply multiple coats but make sure to allow each coat of stain to completely dry before applying another coat.
7. Rehanging the Door
Reattach the hardware and get your door ready to hang back up inside the frame. You’ll need to hold the door and tip it until the knuckles of its hinges are engaged with the knuckles on the doorframe. Screw the fixtures back in and reinsert the hinge pin into place to complete the job.
