Paint and paint the door frame - this is how it works

• Prepare the door frame
  • sand
  • The alternative - the hot air device
• The painting of the door frame
  • Applying the glaze
  • Lacquer - The covering coat
• Worth knowing about the previous coat
• The painting

In old buildings or in an old house, it will be necessary in the course of a renovation to repaint or paint the door frames. To achieve an optimal result, some work steps are required. The DIY guide shows you how old doors and frames shine in new splendor.

As soon as the door and frame are painted with new paint, they represent the binding element between the rooms. The door, like the window, is the constant adornment of a room. It is worth the painstaking work of removing old layers of paint and giving the frame a new look. When working with wood, certain steps must be taken. A simple sweep would otherwise provoke quick peeling and also looks very ugly. With a new paint, the charm of the old door is preserved and yet has a contemporary look in the home.

Prepare the door frame

Before the grinding work begins, check whether there are nails or other small parts in the door frame. These must be pulled out. The door itself should be freed from the lock and the door handle.

Unfortunately, the work does not start with the painting itself. Before that, old paint layers must be thoroughly removed. Unfortunately, old cassette doors often have several layers of varnish, until the beautiful wood comes to light. The better the preparation for painting, the better the result in the end.

sand

If the frame is to be painted later with a covering color, it is not absolutely necessary to remove all layers of paint. As a rule, it is sufficient to remove one coat of paint and roughen the underlying layers well. Very useful for this work is sandpaper with a 60 or 80 grain. However, anyone planning to glaze the grain through a transparent layer of varnish will have to make the effort to remove all layers. For decorated surfaces, use a triangular sander to make even narrow passages. In addition to sandpaper and manual work, you can use a grinder or sanding block here. The use of a sanding block makes work easier, the sandpaper is better in the hand.

Overview:

• Before grinding, remove all metal parts from the frame and door.
• Obtain coarse sandpaper for large ink residues.
• With fine sandpaper smaller color spots are removed.
• Repair minor damage in wood with filler.
• When painting opaque colors, sand off only top layers of paint.

When grinding you should always work in one direction, preferably "with the wood", ie along the grain. Then the surface gets nice and smooth. Small cracks in the wood straighten with putty . It should be noted that a drying time must be maintained. The trade offers here quick-drying putty, in which you have to wait only about six hours, until you can continue to grind. Ideally, you should then fill it up after you have finished the rough grinding and save yourself long drying phases in between.

Once all ink residues have been removed, sand off the frame with a 120-grit sandpaper and get a beautiful, smooth surface. If you want to achieve a special finish, take a paper with 180 or 200 grit for the final sanding. Then the wood is removed with a damp cloth or a hand brush from the fine dust. This inconspicuous work step is important so that unwanted bumps do not re-emerge during later painting.

The alternative - the hot air device

Alternatively, you can use a hot air gun to remove the old paint. This is always suitable if the color is particularly stubborn and can hardly be removed with the sandpaper. Old farmhouses, for example, sometimes carry decades-old paint, which then uses the Heißluftföhn. For this work you need a spatula next to the device. Then the color is heated at certain points until bubbles form. Now the paint can be picked up and removed with the spatula. With a little practice you can do this work almost effortlessly after a while. Thanks to this method, you can also remove old paint. In the next step, the wood is roughened with sandpaper before painting or painting. As a rule, after firing only the operation with the fine sandpaper is necessary.

It must also be said at this point that new wooden doors must also be treated. Of course, this also includes the door frame. Ideally, paint the door and frame before installation. This has the advantage that the door is easier to install and closes better in retrospect. In addition, door and frame can be painted much easier. Put on two big bucks, the painting succeeds with ease. Furthermore, it has the advantage that the color does not run down and do not form ugly noses.

You should pay attention to this:

• Paint new doors before installation.
• burning stubborn colors with the hot air device.
• Water the wood and allow it to dry before painting.
• Sand off the wood after each operation.

When cleaning the wood with water, you do one important job: swelling the wood. The wood fibers swell up, small defects disappear by themselves. It is important that the wood is moistened evenly everywhere. When watering, the wood fibers are on and can be easily sanded off. Of course, after watering, the wood must dry out sufficiently before you start painting.

The painting of the door frame

For a smooth door frame, the paint roller is suitable for applying the paint. A decorated frame, however, must be painted with a narrow brush. When buying the colors, the question arises:

• solvent-based or water-based paint

It should be kept in mind that solvent-based paints continue to dry out long after application and disperse unpleasant odors in the room. Better are paints, varnishes or glazes, which are offered on a water basis and at the same time are very environmentally friendly.

If the grain of the wood is to be seen after painting, then in this case a glaze is used. Glazes are offered in the paint shop or hardware store in different nuances. Here, therefore, a shade can be selected according to the individual taste. The advantage of the glaze lies in the appearance. After the wood has been laid bare in laborious work, the frame is given a natural appearance with a glaze. Especially in old houses sometimes hide small treasures and so it may be that here is a beautiful wooden frame behind a formerly thick layer of paint can be seen. So before the application of the paint begins again, it is worth considering the glaze.

Applying the glaze

Applying glaze could not be easier. The water-based paint is applied thinly with a brush and dries in about 24 hours. It then becomes clear if a second or even third layer is necessary. As a rule, the color gets a little darker with each coat. If you do not want the door frame to be very dark, do not use the third coat of paint. After drying, the grain of the wood is now very beautiful.

When selecting the glaze you have the opportunity to underline the original color of the wood or to give the wood a new nuance. Another layer of paint is no longer necessary after drying. The wood is sufficiently protected with the glaze indoors.

• with glaze the grain remains permanently visible.
• a multiple coat darkens the selected shade.
• a glazed door frame no longer needs to be painted.

Lacquer - The covering coat

With a covering color coating, the surface is beautifully smooth and gets a uniform look. For this purpose, a precoat is necessary, which has the function of a primer. Sense is to give the actual paint a good basis. This keeps the color more permanent. The construction center offers a pre-varnish for wood. The precursor is applied thinly with a narrow brush. Here again applies:

• Decorated door frames are applied with a brush
• Smooth surface frames can be machined with a small foam roller.

After the first coat with precoat, the paint requires a drying time of 24 hours. Then this layer has to be roughened slightly. Here again comes the fine sandpaper to bear. It is important to roughen the surface just a little and then carefully remove the dust. This step ensures that the surface is really nice and smooth. In the end result, there are no bumps on the wood.

Worth knowing about the previous coat

Primer is usually white and can be diluted with water. Such a paint is environmentally friendly and odorless. At the same time it has the property to fill the material to be painted and to dry quickly. The respective drying time must be taken from the individual products. In effect, it has a high opacity and excellent adhesion. He thus offers the ideal conditions for the later paint. As a rule you can pass 8 - 9 m² per liter and coat. The roughness of the wood and the absorbency of the surface also play a role here.

Alternatively, the actual final finish can also be used as a precoat. This is diluted and then applied thinly. Optimal, however, is always working with a professional pre-varnish.

The painting

Once the precoat has dried properly, painting can begin with the selected finish. After the first experience with the painting with the pre-paint is now basically the same procedure. When painting yourself, start at the edges and then work on the respective surface, always in the direction of the grain. Never work against the grain of wood! The paint is applied thinly with a brush or foam roller. After the specified drying time, which can last from 12 to 24 hours, the surface is lightly roughened again to provide good adhesion to the next layer. In this phase, a sandpaper of 200 or 240 grit is used. It is important in any case that the paint is really dry.

Tips for quick readers

• Buy sandpaper with different grain sizes. From 60s to 240s grit, the appropriate paper may be needed here in sufficient quantities.
• If a covering color is to be used again after sanding, not all layers of paint need to be removed.
• It is important to thoroughly clean after each sanding process to remove the finest particles.
• When painting with opaque paint, use a white primer for wood.
• Every color coat needs its appropriate drying time!
• while stroking always make sure there is good ventilation.