Repainting internal doors - faff?

[oreoswithfriends]

We have non-solid interior doors in our 1960's house which are looking a bit yellow and need re-painting and/or sorting out. They've got a sort of grain effect, but are too light to be solid wood. Having googled a bit, it seems that repainting is quite a faff - they have 6 panels in each and I would need to get the doors off the hinges to paint. Has anyone done this before - is it difficult? I have standard white Dulux gloss already from previous skirting painting, but the websites were talking about adding paint conditioner or something, to keep the edges wetter for longer...

Alternatively, (and being lazy) - I see that you can buy new pre-painted white glossed doors from eg - Homebase for about £35 each. Like these: www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=013381

Can anyone advise how difficult re-painting is? We've got about 10 doors to do, so £35 x 10 gets quite expensive - I suppose I'll also need to redo all the door frames, as otherwise the colours will be different!

[AngryFeet]

Those prepainted doors look really cheap up close. I wanted smooth doors so will be painting them - we are thinking or spraying them for a good finish but we have a paint spray gun. You will have to sand yours down first then repaint so will need to take them off the hinges.

If you buy new one you will also have to pay to have them hung and have the old handle/latch etc refit which will be costly so repainting them is worth it. I am waiting till the weather is better then I can do them outside. Not looking forward to it!

[wonkylegs]

I've just painted the kitchen door it was a bit of a faff but mainly because our was a wood door that had a fair bit of damage from the previous owners dog & I had to fill a sand the gouges.
I wouldn't even consider replacing for the reasons you describe as it's a terrible waste & much more expense than painting.
If it's just gone a bit yellow you may get away with only one coat of white, which although more work than painting a wall isn't difficult.
Although it's best to take them off, it's easy enough to paint them in situ. In fact I've only taken doors off hinges to plane them down.
If you are wanting easy to use paint I found that I had a good go with crown non drip solo gloss in my DSs room. I used red but the coverage was fab.
If you are happy to try something more difficult but has an amazing finish - Dulux trade undercoat followed by dulux gloss is brilliantly white & glossy although you have to be extremely careful with drips.
I've decorated individual doors myself but when we had the hall decorated we had the decorators do the whole lot (15doors) which took them an afternoon.

[PigletJohn]

if you have hollow doors, they are made of air with a thin ornamental skin of hardboard or ply.

They are complete rubbish, but you could buy replacement ones very cheaply, or upgrade to something better. However fitting doors to a good standard does need skill. A joiner or carpenter can do a much better job than a handywoman or general builder.

I prefer lift-off hinges, because it makes it so easy to take the doors off and put them back when you want to redecorate. Take all the door furniture off before you start for a decent job.

[HauntedNoddyCar]

You can use a little roller to do the flat bits which speeds it up. I've refreshed doors in situ like that. You do have to be careful to stop the fiddly bits that you do with a brush, running though.

[oreoswithfriends]

ohhh-kkkaaay, looks like I really ought to do it myself then. I'll start on a lesser-used door so that I can practice and sort out drips.

PigletJohn unsurprisingly we don't have lift off hinges - they are just "normal" ones. Presumably, I can just unscrew the door, paint it and screw it back on again in the same holes once I'm done? (am DIY novice)?

[Lagoonablue]

I have had good results this way. Remove handles. Leave door on hinges as it is too much of a faff. Sand, add 2 coats of flat and the. One of satinwood or eggshell. With a roller to avoid brush marks.

Avoid gloss as it shows every blemish. The 2 coats of flat sounds a pain but really makes it hard wearing IME.

[hap77]

I have just painted 6 of mine like this. They looked awful before and I was going to change but they have painted really well. Left the doors on, removed handles and used farrow and ball eggshell and a brush and you can't see any brush marks. They took hardly anytime at all to be honest.

[ShoeWhore]

I quite enjoy painting doors (did one yesterday in fact) Have never ever taken them off the hinges and don't bother to undercoat or sand unless they are bare wood or in awful condition. I used a small brush for the fiddly bits and a mini roller for the flat bits. Sometimes get away with one coat if I am really careful.

I prefer eggshell to gloss but I guess you'll want to use whatever you've done the skirting board in?

[MyCatIsFat]

I had 5 of these wood grain effect doors fitted recently. Was advised to paint them with a mini roller and to use Satinwood rather than Gloss. I painted them in situ. Took about 30 mins per side so about 10 hours in total. Just needed one Satinwood top coat as they were ready primed. I wouldn't dream of paying someone to do such an easy job.

[Saxie]

We keep on getting knot stains through our doors. Does anyone have any advice on how to prevent this happening again?

[MyCatIsFat]

On bare wood I have always used 2 coats of knotting fluid? before the undercoat. Never had a problem with knots so far.

I'd rub the areas back, use the knotting stuff, then repaint.

[littleredsquirrel]

Pigletjohn sorry if I'm being obtuse but how do lift off hinges work on a door? The door frame is in the way and so you can't lift the door.

Interested since we're about to replace two doors in our kitchen and if lift off hinges could be a better long term option then I'm all for them.

I'm with everyone else on avoiding gloss. Plus its a more dated look.

[PigletJohn]

you open the door by 90 degrees or more, and the door swings enough that the door is no longer below the doorframe. Sometimes it is a bit awkward if there is a big architrave. Rising butt hinges will also lift off.

Recently I have been using Eclipse hinges which have a short pin with a conical end, not a full length pin, and they are even easier. They are especially useful on fire doors which are very heavy

examples

[oreoswithfriends]

ok ok, I will have a go!! Thanks for all your helpful advice. One final thing - seeing as we haven't yet done the skirting boards either (currently yellowing gloss), would you recommend gloss or satinwood/eggshell?

Is it just that the latter is less dated? Most things in our house are gloss, but to be honest, all the woodwork needs redoing!!

[MyCatIsFat]

Same as the doors - Satinwood, otherwise it looks as though they've been primed and are still awaiting their topcoat.

[oreoswithfriends]

Sorry MyCatIsFat, perhaps I wasn't clear - assuming that both the doors and the skirting need repainting, should I be using gloss or satinwood/eggshell?? Is one less dated than another? Or less hard wearing?

[MyCatIsFat]

The builder who fitted my doors suggested satinwood. I had not used it before but he said that's what the hotel he was refurbishing was using and he thought it gave a good-looking finish.

So I read up on here about gloss satinwood and eggshell.

The consensus seems to be that gloss is 'old folks home', eggshell shows marks very easily and to some extent, sationwood also shows marks. Then, having see eggshell in a few places (including the holiday home I rented this year) I thought it look very dull and unfinished.

So I opted for satinwood and think I made the right choice - just about the right anount of sheen, while still easy to wipe clean. The only downside is that I think gloss leaves a harder surface.

[ShoeWhore]

I prefer eggshell but I think it's a matter of personal choice. It wipes clean find and we've not had any problems with it lasting but I agree satinwood feels tougher and gloss tougher still.

[ShoeWhore]

It wipes clean fine that should say!