Please help improve my internal doors

[Mistymeow]

Hi everyone

I recently moved into a Victorian property which was tenanted, and all of the walls and flooring need some tlc. I've just redecorated the dining room but I want to tackle the doors. I've looked at them a while now and I think they look so tatty and a bit sad. I'm new to DIY so don't want to make a mistake with them- could anyone advise please? They all seem to be solid wood. Thank you

Hi! It’s hard to see condition of wood in these photos - if they aren’t great I would paint. Sand down and fill and cracks etc with 2 pack wood filler (Ronseal is best in my opinion) fill it flush as a pain to rub down if over filled. Knotting solution on any knots, coat of acrylic undercoat primer - fill again as undercoat shows any imperfections. Primer the filled areas and then 2 coats of your choice of paint (would recommend an oil based paint as more hardwearing). I’m a decorator by trade so that’s what I would do.

@Pringle89 thank you that is a really helpful list. Some of the doors are worse than others but seems a shame to replace them.

How about lime waxing them? Mine are all painted and I wish they weren't

it looks to me like they are the original doors that have been stripped.

They would originally have been painted or grained.

You can do what you like with them, but you will be very much frowned upon if you rip out original Victorian features from your house.

Definitely keep them! They’re glorious. If you can’t be arsed to do all that faff above, slap on some Dulux Super Grip primer (covers everything, even dirt, no prep needed), and paint. I’d be tempted to keep them in their charmingly battered state and distract with colourful walls, wallpaper, curtains and rugs. But I am at the slovenly end of cottagecore.

Look at the Osmo range of oils and waxes, they have a helpline too I believe.

No no definitely not getting rid of them, just in need of some care, apart from one that I may not be able to save. This is all really helpful advice, I don't want to paint them white so will look into lime waxing and the other recommendations. Perfect, thanks so much.

No don't paint them. Paint chips and gets so dirty. Lime wax is the way to go

I agree it would be better to stain them or use like wax, painting will lead to years of repeat painting.

No definitely don’t get rid of those doors! They are lovely!!! (And will save you a fortune replacing them!)

You can buy decorative beading to 'line' the panels.

Door in your first pic looks terrible, those big patches need sanding out. The other pair of pics look fine, lime wax and they'll be lovely character doors.

Excellent. I was hoping to avoid paint as I've painted doors before and regretted it. I've attached a pic of the door to my bedroom which I'm happy with and would like the other doors to look like (excuse the dodgy wallpaper!)