Painting a door frame?
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bracken78

Original Poster:

987 posts

224 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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I hope someone can help me? In a couple of weeks I plan to paint part of our house (Kitchen and Dinning room). This will be my first time painting but I don’t see it being a problem except one thing. I want to paint the door frames but they have years of paint causing them to look a mess so I don’t really want to add just more paint. If I wanted to do a decent job do I have to remove all the old paint, which seems a bit daunting or can I just sand it down as much as possible and then paint on this? Would this create a decent finish?

GreenDog

2,261 posts

210 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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I've been in the same position before and to be honest even after removing the paint with a hot air gun and sanding etc the finish wasn't fantastic because the wood gets pitted and marked and it's not the same as nice new stuff.

Have you thought about replacing the frames, it'd probably be less work anyway smile

Simpo Two

89,718 posts

283 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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If the existing paint is firmly fixed and not flaking, then you could sand it to a decent flat finish and paint that. However door frames can have lots of angles which would make sanding very fiddly. The 'proper' way would be to coat the old paint liberally with a good paintstripper like Nitromors, then scrape it back to bare wood and start from scratch. Up to you!

As it's your first time painting, be careful to put the paint on thinly and watch for drips - gloss paint is particularly good at looking nice for 30 seconds, then running when you're not looking.

bracken78

Original Poster:

987 posts

224 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
quotequote all
Thank you for the info. I don’t have the tools to replace a door frame but it is not something that had not crossed my mind.

The current paint is fine with no cracks or damage, just very dirty and tired looking. I think I might just clean the areas with a damp rag and paint it. We are planning on changing the kitchen and the frame in question is between the dinning room and the kitchen.

Never painted with gloss before so thank you for the tip Simpo Two.

GreenDog

2,261 posts

210 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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Use a good paint, don't go for the own brand cheapy rubbish. I prefer Dulux professional liquid gloss as it gives a lovely shiney finish although it will run if you;re not careful.

RedLCRB0b

2,218 posts

255 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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Simpo Two said:
The 'proper' way would be to coat the old paint liberally with a good paintstripper like Nitromors, then scrape it back to bare wood and start from scratch.
Yep, Nitromors will do the job. We (or rather my wife !) used it to successfully remove years worth of different paints from the interior of our wooden windows. We then sanded and stained the windows to provide a natural finish.

Bob

HiRich

3,337 posts

280 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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bracken78 said:
The current paint is fine with no cracks or damage, just very dirty and tired looking. I think I might just clean the areas with a damp rag and paint it. We are planning on changing the kitchen and the frame in question is between the dinning room and the kitchen.
Wash with Sugar Soap (wear a rubber glove). It will strip away the grease and help the new paint key to the surface. Same applies to walls (be careful around electrical points), and particularly in the kitchen

Simpo Two

89,718 posts

283 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
quotequote all
bracken78 said:
The current paint is fine with no cracks or damage, just very dirty and tired looking. I think I might just clean the areas with a damp rag and paint it.
I'd suggest you use a proper cleaner (a damp rag won't shift finger grease, old tobacco or the film of time) and then use a very fine grade sandpaper over the easily-reachable areas to provide a key for the new paint (you don't want scratches, just a matt finish). Paint is only as good as the surface it's painted onto, and might peel off otherwise.


Doh, beaten to it.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 14th October 13:06

SeeFive

8,353 posts

251 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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I'd also go with the Nitromores approach if I did not have the tools to replace the frame. Just take care that you get it all out of the crevices / filler areas as it will cause a reaction to new paint going on.

Actually, this sounds like a good time to start your tool collcetion. You do not need a lot of tools to replace the outer bits of a frame (the architrave around the door) which can make quite a difference to the appearance of the door area. The flat bit in the door recess is then quite simple to sand back, working through the grits to get a paintable finish.

Taking architrave off should be a simple matter of a pry bar to get the old wood off. Use a block under the pry bar to avoid damaging the area you lever against.

Putting it back, you'll need a mitre block and appropriate saw (or electric mitre saw starting at about £50 if you are feeling you may have a use for it later), some gripfill, a hammer, a few pins and a pin punch to get the nails below the surface, some wood filler to cover the nails and caulk for where the architrave joins the walls.

Then prime, undercoat and paint, and you will have a nice new, sharp looking profile around your door.

Then when you see it, you will want to replace all the skirtings... which again is a simple job, pretty much as above except you do not mitre the corners, but scribe them in.

The woodwork should only take about an hour for a newbie, and then some nice careful coats of paint, only as much time to paint as it would anyway plus a primer coat.

You'll be amazed at how easy it is, and the result you will get. But be careful, it's infectious and wood is not cheap from DIY stores - shop around on the web.

bracken78

Original Poster:

987 posts

224 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
quotequote all
Thank you everyone for your replies and it seems I now have a little thinking to do! I will inspected the frame tomorrow as I'm not home tonight and see what I think should be the right way to go about this job. I’m not sure what to do!


King Herald

23,501 posts

234 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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Simpo Two said:
As it's your first time painting, be careful to put the paint on thinly and watch for drips - gloss paint is particularly good at looking nice for 30 seconds, then running when you're not looking.
I tried to explain that to my wife when she decided to paint, then carpet our stairs.

We now have £600 worth of carpet fitted on and around a drippy, wobbly, run-ridden surface-of-the-moon paint job that I could have done better blindfolded. frown

Simpo Two

89,718 posts

283 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
quotequote all
bracken78 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies and it seems I now have a little thinking to do! I will inspected the frame tomorrow as I'm not home tonight and see what I think should be the right way to go about this job. I’m not sure what to do!
If the current paint is in good condition with a decent surface, then I'd stick to Plan A (paint). Pulling off frames and architraves is fine for a competent DIYer but you'll need to be able to cut timber accurately, cut mitres and fill in any chunks of plaster that the nails have rusted into and then pull out all over the floor... and you'll still have to paint the new timber anyway!

robinhood21

30,946 posts

250 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
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King Herald said:
Simpo Two said:
As it's your first time painting, be careful to put the paint on thinly and watch for drips - gloss paint is particularly good at looking nice for 30 seconds, then running when you're not looking.
I tried to explain that to my wife when she decided to paint, then carpet our stairs.

We now have £600 worth of carpet fitted on and around a drippy, wobbly, run-ridden surface-of-the-moon paint job that I could have done better blindfolded. frown
That has just reminded me of my ex-wife's 'help' with the painting. When we moved in, the handrail had umpteen coats of paint on it. Chipping back a patch of paint, I discovered a nice mahogany beneath so, decided to lovingly restore the handrail back to it's former glory.

Many evenings and, a couple of weekends later, I had stripped it right back to how it must have been before being varnished for the very first time. This included teasing out the paint from any open grain and sanding to a smooth surface, readying it for it's first coat of polish. Imagine my horror when returning from work to find my wife had 'helped' with the restoration by giving it a coat of wood-primer.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

263 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
quotequote all
bracken78 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies and it seems I now have a little thinking to do! I will inspected the frame tomorrow as I'm not home tonight and see what I think should be the right way to go about this job. I’m not sure what to do!
The thing with painting is that if it looks crap then it's not a problem - just rub it down and do it again. If the door frame is in poor condition then you might need to give it a couple (or even more) coats anyway, rubbing the paint down between coats with very fine sandpaper just to break the gloss of the surface and allow the new paint to grip.

You could undercoat it first - some people refer to this as flatting - so you can see the surface looks ok and can correct any defects before you apply the final gloss coat.

caiss4

1,944 posts

215 months

Wednesday 14th October 2009
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
bracken78 said:
Thank you everyone for your replies and it seems I now have a little thinking to do! I will inspected the frame tomorrow as I'm not home tonight and see what I think should be the right way to go about this job. I’m not sure what to do!
If the current paint is in good condition with a decent surface, then I'd stick to Plan A (paint). Pulling off frames and architraves is fine for a competent DIYer but you'll need to be able to cut timber accurately, cut mitres and fill in any chunks of plaster that the nails have rusted into and then pull out all over the floor... and you'll still have to paint the new timber anyway!
Sounds like the voice of experience! Been there, done that! Have you considered using satin finish paint. It really is more forgiving when the surface is not perfect.

I used this extensively in a refurbed Victorian flat and the result was fresh and clean on classic architrave that showed its age by way of the knocks and gouges it had suffered over the years. New architrave would just not have looked right.

bracken78

Original Poster:

987 posts

224 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
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Again, thank you all for your input. I did manage to have a quick look at the frame last night and other than being in need of some paint it really is not in bad condition (shame about the skirting board!). I will give it a rub down and clean with Nitromores as suggested and then carefully apply some now paint and I’m sure it will be ok.

I will report back with the results when done.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

263 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
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bracken78 said:
clean with Nitromores
NOOOOOO. Nitromors is paint stripper. Either start with that and strip all the paint off or keep it a million miles away.

If you want something to clean the paint with then use Sugar Soap - either in a packet or a bottle which you dilute in a bucket.

bracken78

Original Poster:

987 posts

224 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
quotequote all
Deva Link said:
bracken78 said:
clean with Nitromores
NOOOOOO. Nitromors is paint stripper. Either start with that and strip all the paint off or keep it a million miles away.

If you want something to clean the paint with then use Sugar Soap - either in a packet or a bottle which you dilute in a bucket.
Opps, A little hung over. I did mean sugar soap.

was8v

2,011 posts

213 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
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I always use "satin" rather than gloss on uneven woodwork with many layers of paint on it.

Looks much nicer you don't see the imperfections so much. Easier to paint and plus gloss seems to "yellow" after a few years.

southendpier

5,871 posts

247 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
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All i would add is watch out for layers of lead paint if it is very old. You can get spot test kits from your local DIY store.