Interior Door Painting

[rdgallo]

We just moved into a new (to us) house that has all of the wooden doors and trim painted white. All of the doors are poorly painted and pretty rough to the touch. I would like to take them off and redo them one at a time (painting them the same white color). Can someone give me some pointers on how to sand these and what kind of paint to use to give them a nice, smooth finish?
Thanks!

[rdgallo]

No painters around here?? Thanks anyway.

[paintutah]

you need to sand with fine sandpaper, 150 or 180 grit, dust with clean rag and repaint

[rdgallo]

Thanks for the reply. Any recommendations on what paint to use?

[HayZee518]

I would use a paste type paint and varnish remover. once the surface is down to bare wood I would use an alcohol wash on a rag to neutralize any effects of the remover. then I would sand the door, mouldings etc until a good, dry surface was there. I would use a good primer of zissner kilz as a bottom coat and finish with a good quality top coat.

[paintutah]

depending if the doors are true wood doors you can strip them but there is no reason to if you are going to repaint, not stain. Just sand clean and top coat with 100% acrylic paint, sheen of your choice. If there is a chance of the doors being painted with an oil based paint, you then need to prime with kilz or use oil based paint again. Acrylics will not bond to oil. As far as product or brand recommend a true paint supply store.

[rdgallo]

Thanks for the information.

[kaitlin]

To take off the door, slip out the hinge pins, but don’t unscrew the hinges. Lean the door against a wall with two small blocks under the bottom edge and a third block between the top edge and the wall. You can also lay the door across a pair of sawhorses; if you paint in this manner, do not apply too much paint or it may puddle.
Whether you paint a door on or off its hinges, the painting sequence is exactly the same. Work from top to bottom. For flush doors, roll on the paint with a lint-free cover, and then brush in the direction of the grain. For doors with inset panels, paint in the following order: recesses, panels, horizontal rails, and vertical stiles. Match the color of the latch edge to the room the door opens into and the color of the hinge edge to the room the door opens away from. When painting the door casing, begin with the head casing, and then work down the side casings. If the door opens away from the room, paint the jamb and the two surfaces of the door stop visible from the room. If the door opens into the room, paint the jamb and the door side of the door stop. Do not rehang or close the door until all the paint is completely dry.

[wvguy]

thanks guys for helping me out in answering the question. I am currently deployed to Iraq and unable to check the forum as often as I would like.

[HayZee518]

wvguy you never told anybody! how's things there? keep yer butt down!