High-quality painting of interior doors: painter's advice. How to prepare interior doors for painting without removing the old paint? How to repaint a door a different color

As a rule, old doors have a high-strength panel and a high-quality box, but the appearance deteriorates over time due to a thick coating. As one of the budget renovation methods, ordinary wood door paint is used. In this material, you will learn how to paint wooden doors, and get acquainted with other modern ways to renovate the coating at home.

Rice. 1. Door before and after painting

Choice of paintwork materials

LKM are classified according to the following criteria:

• By composition (on a water and organic basis);
• By protective action (against organic and chemical substances, mechanical influences, changes in humidity and temperature);
• By the method of use (internal, external, combined);
• By type (impregnation, paints, stains, varnishes).

1. Paints. Can be used on new and old doors. There are no difficulties with the choice, but due to incompetence, people choose the wrong material. Paints and varnishes are transparent and opaque. The first compositions include certain pigments that exhibit a woody structure. But opaque coatings are often used, consisting of organic solvents (oil, alkyd and other types).

The most popular is alkyd enamel, the cost of which is affordable. This coating has high strength, a wide range of shades. But the enamel smells bad, its unpleasant smell remains for 2 days, so they work with it on the street, first removing the canvas from the hinges or freeing up the room. An alternative solution is acrylic enamel, which also has many colors but no toxic smell. The dried paint does not have much strength, so it is additionally treated with acrylic varnish to protect it from mechanical stress.

A more resistant coating for wood doors is nitro paint, which has optimal strength. The composition is toxic, sometimes leads to allergic manifestations, so you need to work with it in protective equipment. If an old surface is treated with nitro-paint, the preparation and grinding of the panel is carried out in advance to a light shade.

2. Lucky. They belong to the traditional coatings that give wood a shine and protect its surface. Typically, varnish is used to cover doors in rooms with high humidity (baths and saunas).

There are many different varnishes:

• Acrylic. The material is resistant to negative influences, humidity and ultraviolet. Distinguish matte and glossy finish without toxic odor.
• Nitrocellulose. Varnish can be used to process wooden doors. The coating is not suitable for processing bathrooms and baths, as it has insufficient strength and cracks quickly.
• Lacquer with a water base. It does not have an unpleasant odor. Material properties may vary due to different additives.
• Polyurethane. The varnish has high strength and adhesion to wood, it can be matte, semi-gloss and glossy. In addition to wood, polyurethane varnishes can be applied to parquet, veneer, countertops.
• Oil varnish. There is no strong odor. The composition contains a lot of fatty resins, so the old coating is removed from the door in advance. It is better to apply with a brush because of the thick consistency.
• polyester. The composition has a pungent odor, is highly durable, but toxic, therefore it is suitable for processing street doors.

It is better to paint interior doors with an acrylic or polyurethane coating, and resistant materials are suitable for external work or rooms with high humidity..

3. Wood stains. The task of such compositions is toning the tree and temporary protection from negative influences. But a constant renewal of the layer is required, which emphasizes the wood structure.

There are several options:

• With lacquer base (azure). The composition reduces the duration of work, but it is difficult to achieve aesthetics, so a plain surface can be obtained by spraying with an airbrush;
• With oils. Before use it is necessary to dilute with solvent;
• With water. It dries longer, but there is no toxic smell. The composition penetrates deeply, giving a richer shade and a clear pattern that looks beautiful;
• Alcohol based. It dries quickly, but is more expensive and has a strong smell.

To protect the wood from fungus, moisture and dirt, oil wax is used, which penetrates deep into the surface. Coating adds strength and shine.

If you choose how to stain the surface of the door, then you need to take into account the duration of drying and the effect obtained.

Preparing the canvas for painting

First, the door is removed from the hinges, placed on a flat surface. Before using alkyd paint, it is better to place the canvas on the street or in a well-ventilated area. The door is then locked so that all elements are accessible. The fittings are also removed or wrapped in foil, and the locks are sealed with adhesive tape.

Door cleaning

Preliminary cleaning, removal of old enamel or paint. For such purposes, it is better to use a grinder, and in its absence, you can peel off the layer with medium grit sandpaper. The bubbles that appear are eliminated with a hair dryer, which heats up the paint layer to remove it with a spatula. Washing compositions are a costly and simple way to clean the surface.

Layers of old paint can be removed with an abrasive nozzle on a drill. Pieces of dust and paint are swept away from the cloth, the surface is polished so that there are no scratches, bumps or roughness. The surface is inspected from both sides, the density of the joints is analyzed, the frame can be strengthened with fasteners and metal corners.

Puttying and sanding

The existing cracks and grooves are sealed with a new putty. For alkyd paint, a composition of any color is suitable, and before applying oil impregnation, varnish or wax, the tone of the putty must match the panel. The dried areas of the door are polished with fine-grained sandpaper. At this stage, any defects are eliminated.

Antiseptic coating

When applying paint, the surface is pre-treated with flame retardant and antiseptic impregnation (for example, biotex) when the door is installed in the steam room. It is advisable to choose the means of one company, which will improve the interaction and quality of coverage.

After that, the door must be primed, and then apply a layer of putty. It is necessary to process all areas of the door, as well as gaps in decorative details, between the jamb and the lintel. After the putty dries, the surface is puttied again.

Coloring technology

If a new canvas is being painted, then it should be protected from swelling. Pre-lay it on a flat surface, process it with sandpaper or a grinder. Then the cloth is primed, recesses and flat areas are processed. After drying, the surface is re-treated.

The old door of the house needs to be painted with high quality so that there are no stains and smudges on its surface. It is unlikely that you need to buy a spray gun for painting one or two canvases, so you can use a paneled brush or roller.

After you have chosen how to paint a wooden door, you should familiarize yourself with some of the nuances of the work:

• fluff the brush, removing poorly fixed hairs;
• you need to paint the panel door correctly in 3 stages, using a roller, from the upper left corner you need to move to the right, covering the entire canvas. After drying, the door must be processed in the longitudinal direction. Then you need to paint the canvas from the upper right corner;
• when processing a paneled canvas, you need to use a brush, handle the surface carefully, avoiding excess coating.

Painting with alkyd enamel

To cover the doors with alkyd enamel, the following steps should be followed:

• remove the panel from the hinges so that paint streaks do not appear on the surface. Then, with a spatula and sandpaper, you need to remove scuffs and the old layer, rinse the surface thoroughly and inspect for defects. Chips and cracks are puttied, the surface is dried and sanded with sandpaper. At the last stage, priming is carried out;
• the finished canvas lies on a horizontal surface of the floor, table or workbench, covered with polyethylene. Existing glass is sealed with adhesive tape. At the paneled door, the panels are first painted with a brush, and then the protrusions. In the future, the entire panel is stained with a roller. With a two-layer application of alkyd enamel, the consumption will be 40-80 g / m2;
• in addition, you can tint the canvas under wenge, soaking it with a special compound. The basis of this paint includes natural oils. After a layer of paint has been applied, it must be carried out with a rubber spatula or sponge about 10 times;
• you can take liquid soap with paint. First, the cloth is covered with paint and liquid soap. The soap needs another layer of coating.

Stain processing

When choosing a stain, a primer is not used. The agent penetrates into the deep layers of pine or oak wood, coloring its fibers and increasing the protective performance. There are several ways to apply the composition: rubbing, spraying, simple application and staining with a brush. Usually a simple application is used..

Since the stain will lie better on a damp canvas, it needs to be slightly moistened. First, the coloring is carried out along the fibers, and then across them. The next layer is carried out in the direction of the fibers. From below we process a panel with jambs so as not to disturb the design of the structure.

After the water-based stain has been applied, the surface should be sanded with a zero-grain sandpaper (due to raised fibers), remove dust and apply the next coat of coating. If an alcohol stain is used, the fibers do not rise and no sanding is required. But water formulations do not have an unpleasant odor and toxicity.

Oil or wax impregnations

There are nuances in processing the canvas with oil impregnation. First, the composition of Pinotex is well mixed. If applied incorrectly, dark areas and stripes may appear. For work, a brush, sprayer, roller or sponge made of foam rubber is used. Depending on the porosity of the material, the number of layers will be calculated.

First, they collect a little composition, distributing it evenly over the width of the panel. Then the impregnation is rolled out with a roller or rubbed with a brush without sagging. Drying time is 8-12 hours. No later than a day later, another layer is applied.

wood look

To paint interior doors under a tree with your own hands was done correctly, follow the instructions:

• we apply light paint (beige, white, gray or yellow) to the building material;
• the dried surface is treated with liquid soap;
• cover with dark paint, remove liquid soap.

The wood structure can be made on veneered material, processing the fibers with a special brush (the effect of "antique" is obtained). Then one or more paint and varnish coatings must be applied to the surface and sanded.

How to paint laminated doors

Compared to natural wood doors, laminated products are aesthetically pleasing, easy to use and affordable. To process laminated doors, you will need a roller or brush, wood putty with a spatula, sandpaper, rags, solvent and special enamel.

The surface is completely sanded, cleaned with a rag from dust and puttied with a thin layer. After the putties have dried, they are treated with sandpaper, applied a second time and again after drying they are polished. Before painting, the composition is diluted with a solvent. The paint is applied carefully, paying attention to hard-to-reach areas. After 3 layers, the result is fixed with varnish.

If there are no defects, you can update the laminated coating. Suitable tinted varnish or stain, which is applied after sanding and tinting.

The choice of the color of the panel is carried out based on the wishes. The main recommendations include:

• drying the surface before applying alkyd enamel;
• combination of the shade of the canvas with furniture;
• the choice of a solid wood door covered with oil impregnation for a wooden dwelling;
• a combination of an aged door with antiques;
• choice of dark tinted door for lacquered furnishings;
• the use of water-based paints.

In the process of painting the door, you must follow the technique and safety measures.

Making repairs in a house or apartment, you should think about the restoration of old doors. This is especially true of wooden products, which are made from a solid array of valuable species. But if the interior doors are made of fiberboard or MDF, they can also be repainted in a different color or varnished.

Types of paints for doors, which one to choose

A large selection of paint and varnish coatings offered in stores will help transform an old door. They can be transparent or not, with the addition of special pigments that show the structure of wood, alkyd, oil, water-based.

Alkyd paint is one of the most common among paint and varnish coatings. It is inexpensive, creates a durable coating, is suitable for fiberboard, MDF and wood, offers a large range of shades, so you can choose the color you need. When deciding to repaint an interior door with alkyd paint with your own hands, you should keep in mind the strong spread of a specific smell. Therefore, work should be carried out on the street or in a utility room. If this is not possible, then you need to make sure that family members spend a day or two with relatives. It will take 48 hours for the smell to completely dissipate.

Acrylic paint is also a good option for MDF, MDF and wood doors. Its main advantage is the almost complete absence of smell, which allows you to carry out work right in the apartment. Preferring acrylic paint, you can also choose any color from a fairly large palette. Its disadvantages include the fact that the strength of the coating is not high, so interior doors after painting must be covered with clear varnish.

An oil-based tinting composition is well suited for a wooden entrance or interior door. It is absorbed into the fibers, has no smell and gives the material the desired color.

Nitro paint and nitro lacquer have the highest surface strength, but they are the cause of a strong poisonous odor. When working with them, personal protective equipment is used.

Having decided on the type of paint, you need to choose its color. The easiest way to do this is according to the catalog provided by the manufacturer. It should be borne in mind that the shade of a wooden door will depend on the number of layers of paint.

When deciding which color and shade of coating to choose, the owners of the premises are primarily guided by personal preferences. But there are general guidelines to help you make a decision.

Wooden doors will look good in a wooden house, so in such a situation you need to know how to paint a wood-like door with your own hands to reveal the wood structure.

The color of the door should match the furniture in the room. In a room with light furniture, light doors will look good. If the bedroom set has a dark glossy surface, then the interior door must be painted in the appropriate color and varnished. If you have antique furniture, then artificially aged doors are suitable for it.

Preparing the canvas for painting

Before you repaint the door leaf, it must be prepared so that the door has a beautiful appearance and looks like new. In this case, you need to take into account the material from which it is made. Some of the nuances of pre-processing depend on it.

Do-it-yourself preparation includes the following steps.

1. Removing the door leaf from the hinges.
2. Dismantling of fittings and glasses, if any.
3. Removal of old coating.
4. Puttying chips and cracks with a special tool.
5. Grinding.
6. Cleaning the canvas from dust.

To prevent the formation of smudges, the door leaf must be placed in a horizontal position. For this, it is dismantled. If it is not possible to remove the fittings and remove the glass, then they must be sealed with masking tape.

The canvas made of fiberboard and MDF, unlike wood, has a thin coating, so its processing, cleaning of old paint and puttying with your own hands must be done carefully.

Tools for the job

To prepare, paint and varnish a wooden door with your own hands, as well as fiberboard and MDF canvases, you need the following tools:

• emery skin;
• putty knife;
• tassel;
• roller;
• bath for paint;
• personal protective equipment against odor.

Door painting: all the nuances

The procedure for painting the door is as follows: first, the panels are painted with a brush, then the protruding parts, and at the very end they are passed along the canvas with a roller. When working, make sure that the room is well ventilated - this will save you from smell if you use alkyd or nitro paint.

The room in which the work will be carried out must be clean and dust-free. Settling of dust and debris on the painted surface will spoil the appearance of a door made of wood, fiberboard, MDF or other materials.

When deciding to repaint a laminated interior door, you need to keep in mind that the adhesion of its surface to the paint is practically absent. Therefore, before starting staining, you need to walk over the entire surface of the canvas with a fine sandpaper with your own hands, and then wipe it with a cloth dipped in white spirit. Such actions help to remove the protective coating, increase adhesion and allow you to successfully restore the laminated door. After the paint has dried, the canvas can be varnished.

Painting a veneered interior door with your own hands is more difficult than any other. This is due to the fact that the thickness of the veneer is very small. Therefore, with small deformations or scratches, you can simply varnish the surface. If you need to completely change their color, it is recommended to use water-based paints. Before painting, the surface is treated with a special primer that hides scratches. Nitro paints are not recommended, they can contribute to the formation of dull spots.

An interior door veneered with artificial material can also be painted. But for this you need to choose a paint that will not roll off a smooth surface. And it is not recommended to prime such doors, since the effect of naturalness is lost.

A newly painted and varnished door made of wood, fiberboard, MDF or other material can be placed in the opening, returning the fittings and glass to their place. She will delight with her appearance for more than one year.

Starting repairs in his home, any owner is trying to save money or reduce the cost of it.

So, it is possible to postpone the replacement of doors, trying to restore the old ones with high quality.

You can master the secrets of this simple skill and learn some of the subtleties yourself!

Input structure update

The easiest and most affordable way to update a door is to cover it with fresh paint, as the old layer spoils the aesthetic appearance and changes color over the years. Initially, you need to decide what the structure will be covered with:

• stain, tinting varnish;
• thick enamel, acrylic, polyurethane oil paint.

When choosing a coating, we are based on individual preferences, but it is worth listening to the advice of experienced craftsmen - finishers.

Preparing material for painting

The quality of the desired result directly depends on the thoroughness of the process of preparing the restored material. For convenience, the door must be removed from the hinges and laid on supports (you can use the required number of stools). Next, you need to do the following:

Previous layers of paint and other materials must be carefully removed down to the wood. For these purposes, it is possible to use a grinder, or manually using sandpaper, which is securely attached to the bar for convenience.

• Then, to eliminate small cracks, dents and scratches, the canvas is polished.
• We putty noticeable imperfections with a special putty on wood.
• Then, when the putty is completely dry, we re-sand with a finer-grained sandpaper.

After finishing the work, the door must be cleaned of dust, wiped with a damp cloth, dried, and you can proceed to direct painting.

Standard door painting process

The paint must be applied evenly without unnecessary smudges and stains. It is most convenient to use a special sprayer, but it is too expensive and costly in finance. Therefore, it is better to use a conventional panel brush and roller, which are suitable for working with almost any material of all types.

Important: before starting work, it is reasonable to fluff the brush and remove excess protruding hairs, which, at the end, may remain on the painted door.

Painting proceeds depending on the type of construction:

If the door is paneled, then painting begins with a brush, which you need to go through all the recesses, without taking too much paint on the brush. The second stage will be work with a roller.

But the shield door is processed in several steps. It is advantageous to apply the coating with a roller, which does not leave unnecessary stripes and hairs. Work begins from the end - from the left corner to the right down.

Then leave the surface for the time specified by the paint manufacturer for complete drying. The second layer is applied in the longitudinal direction, and the third - opposite to the first layer.

varnishing a wooden door

A great option that will suit many styles is painting the door leaf with varnish. For this option, you must follow the correct technology:

• Prepare the material in the same way as before applying paint.
• Mix the varnish thoroughly until a homogeneous composition, to eliminate bubbles.
• The first layer (primer) is applied varnish, diluted with water or solvent. The application should be intense enough, without slowing down, so as not to leave stains.
• After drying, walk on the primer with a fine sandpaper to eliminate small irregularities.
• The next layer of varnish is applied in a cross direction to the previous one.

Layers are applied in the right amount until a perfectly smooth shiny surface is obtained.

Observing simple rules and techniques, it will not be difficult to paint the door or varnish it on your own, while it is beneficial to save the budget during repairs.

Photo ideas how to paint doors

Surely, when building or repairing a house, you installed a high-quality, solid door made of natural wood. But over time, even she will lose her attractive appearance. This is not at all a reason to replace, because a wooden door is not at all difficult to paint on your own. The choice of color depends only on your desire, but you need to know the technology of painting and the subtleties of the process.

Features of the composition for painting

Whether you need to refurbish old doors or give new ones a different look, choosing the right paint product is essential. The quality and service life of a wooden door depends on it. Consider the most common means.

Varnishes - colored, glossy or matte. Their main property is that under a layer of substance, the structure of wood will definitely be visible. If you have completely restored the door, then varnishing is unlikely to work, since all defects and subtleties of processing will be visible. There are several varnish options:

• based on oils;
• alcohol varnish;
• polyurethane;
• solvent based nitro lacquer.

The latter type is not suitable for use on wood: the composition of such a varnish has a bad effect on wood. But polyurethane varnish is durable and resistant to mechanical damage, so it is perfect for our task, although it is quite expensive.

The choice of varnish or paint depends on the type of door and its location in the room.

If painting with varnish is not suitable for you, refer to paints. Their choice on the modern market is huge both in color and in composition, and it will not be difficult for you to give the door any look. Paints are matte, glossy or emphasizing the wood structure. The main thing is to pay attention to the basis on which the product is made - oil or alcohol. Also suitable and nitro paint.

There are also oils containing wax, designed for painting wooden surfaces. Such a tool can be transparent or colored, it will give the tree a soft silkiness. The disadvantage of this material is the high cost.

Compositions for different types of doors

When choosing a paint product, pay attention to the condition of the door leaf. As already mentioned, for an old door that had to be restored, a varnish coating is absolutely not suitable, under which the entire surface is visible. In this case, it is better to use paint. The varnish will look good on the new door.

The modern market offers a large selection of paints and varnishes for wooden doors.

The most commonly used in such works are 2 types of paints and varnishes.

1. Acrylic compositions on a water-dispersion basis. They are easy to apply and fit well, as if covering the surface with a thin layer of plastic. When dry, there is no strong odor.
2. Solvent-based alkyd paints and varnishes. When painting, they penetrate deep into the wood structure, dry quickly. Resistant to temperature fluctuations, have a water-repellent effect. The disadvantages include a pungent odor when dried.

Taking into account these points, we can conclude that acrylic compositions are well suited for interior doors and dry rooms. Alkyd paints are best used on front doors or in wet areas.

If you plan to paint the door in one color, then the choice of coloring material will be based on the above criteria. But in the presence of a door leaf with a design, take into account the following:

Please note: paint must be applied on a completely dry surface. Otherwise, the layer of paint on wet wood will begin to peel and flake off.

Preparing for the process

First of all, arm yourself with the necessary materials and tools so that during the work process you have everything at hand. You will need:

• painting goats - 2 pcs. or 4 stools;
• roller and bath for him;
• putty knife;
• wet rag;
• sandpaper;
• a vacuum cleaner;
• brush;
• masking tape;
• putty;
• primer;
• solvent;
• paint or varnish;
• flashlight for easy search for flaws on the door leaf.

The door structure consists not only of canvas, and most often it needs to be completely painted, otherwise the door will be very different in color from the lintel and jambs. Painting work can be carried out in two ways: in a horizontal or vertical position.

1. In the first case, remove the door leaf from the hinges and lay it on the goats or stools. If you use an alkyd composition for painting, it is better to sit in the yard, on a balcony or terrace.
2. In the second method, block the canvas without removing it with wedges. Make it so that the brush has free access to all elements of the door. The interlock will also keep the door open while it dries.

Try to dismantle all the hardware on the door

It will be more convenient to work with the canvas removed, but in some cases the second option is quite applicable. Do not forget to dismantle all fittings. If the hinges and handles are non-removable, they can be wrapped with paper and fixed with adhesive tape, or even better - wrapped in foil and ensure it fits snugly to the parts. Seal the lock mechanisms with adhesive tape in a fixed position.

Preliminary processing

This process is multi-stage, and it is very important for the subsequent work. It is from the correct preparation of the surface of the door that it depends on how evenly the paint will lie on it and how long it will hold. Prepare according to the standard scheme.

Please note: in order to repair deep dents under opaque paint, you can use auto-filler, it does not contain fiberglass. And if natural solid wood has darkened over time under paint or varnish, you can lighten it with a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach in 3 parts water.

After you have prepared the door for further work, wipe it, removing dust and small debris, dry thoroughly and proceed to painting.

Painting technologies

When painting the door, you can use both a brush and a roller. The brush may leave streaks and streaks. Therefore, before work, properly fluff it to get rid of fallen and poorly fixed hairs, and during painting, move the brush along and across the surface to smooth out bumps.

If you are using a roller, use it to roll out the paint well so that it lays in a thin layer. Do not press the roller too hard during the process, and roll it over the surface with light, even movements.

The surface of the door will not be painted evenly the first time, the wood will absorb most of the paint. Re-staining will be required, and possibly more than one.

It is very important to pre-clean the white door from dirt and dust.

This method is great if you want to paint your door white. The main thing is to clean the surface with special care so that no dirt or dust remains on it.

simple door leaf

This is the easiest job, so we'll cover it first. However, you need to be careful not to leave noticeable stains and smudges on the door.

For such work, you can purchase a special sprayer: it will greatly facilitate the process. But for painting one or two doors, the purchase of such a device would be financially inexpedient. Therefore, you can easily get by with a roller and a panel brush.

The color scheme depends on the type of door structure.

1. The shield door is painted in 3 steps. The easiest way is to use a roller for this: it will evenly apply paint and leave no hairs. Start covering from the upper left corner of the door, moving to the right side. When the canvas is finished painting to the end, leave it to dry for as long as the instructions for the coloring agent require. The second stage of coloring is carried out in the longitudinal direction, the third - in the opposite direction from the first one.
2. For a paneled door, it is better to use a brush. Walk it along the recesses in the canvas, while trying to avoid excess paint. Finish painting with a roller, using the diagram for a panel door.

Stain painting

If you decide to paint your door with stain, prepare it and lightly dampen it. Thus, moisture will not be absorbed into the wood, and the dye will lie evenly, despite the liquid consistency. Everything that is located horizontally, paint first along the fibers, then across, and at the end of the work again in the longitudinal direction.

If you decide to paint the door in a vertical position and did not remove it from the hinges, start covering the jambs and the canvas from below so that splashes do not fall on the unpainted surface. This is especially important if you plan to varnish the door.

The wood fibers straighten out, having absorbed the water-soluble stain. After the first coat has dried, sand the surface with a sandpaper, clean and re-stain.

After drying, the wooden surface will become lighter than when stained. To make the color more juicy, apply the dye several times.

Alcohol stain does not straighten wood fibers, so you do not have to sand the door after applying it. In addition, it dries in half an hour. But water-soluble stain is more popular because it is considered safer and non-toxic.

wood look

This method is applicable on any surface. As for wood, on old doors that have been subjected to deep restoration, it may also be necessary to apply a pattern that is as close as possible to a pronounced natural one.

There is another way to imitate a wood pattern on the door. To do this, you need a special brush, which you can buy at a hardware store. Soft wood fibers are processed with such a brush with movements similar to combing. Due to changes in the structure, curls will spontaneously appear, creating the illusion of wood. After the surface has dried, it must be sanded.

How to paint a wooden door - video

When installing new wooden doors in the bath, you should immediately take care of their protection from the negative impact. Steam, high temperature, drafts from ventilation contribute to damage to wood, its deformation and loss of external attractiveness. Painting doors will help to avoid this - a simple and effective way. The most important thing is to choose the right paint and apply it correctly.

Paint products are classified as follows:

• by appearance - varnishes, paints and impregnations (oil, wax, stains, penetrating and film-forming);
• by chemical composition - on an organic basis and water;
• according to the method of application - internal, external and combined;
• according to the protective effect - from temperature and humidity fluctuations, from mechanical damage, from chemical and organic irritants.

In addition, all coatings are divided into transparent and opaque. The former include varnishes, glazes and oil impregnations, while the latter include acrylic, alkyd, polyurethane and oil-based paints and enamels.

Opaque paint for bath doors is used less often, since the natural pattern of wood fits more harmoniously into the interior. Traditionally, the interior decoration of the bath is made of wood, so doors with a pronounced texture look more advantageous.

But if tiles are used for wall decoration, you can make the doors plain by choosing the appropriate color.

When using paint, pre-treatment of the surface with antiseptic impregnation and fire retardant is required if the door is in the steam room. It is advisable to choose all products from one manufacturer, this will improve their interaction and make the coating better.

The best choice for sauna doors are alkyd-based varnishes and paints, the main advantage of which is resistance to temperature fluctuations and water resistance.

And one more thing: paint and varnish products should be purchased only in specialized stores where storage conditions are observed, especially temperature conditions.

Wood varnish prices

varnish for wood

How to paint new doors

Untreated wood absorbs moisture well, and if you put new doors in the bath without impregnation with protective compounds, they will swell very soon and stop closing tightly. Therefore, before installing the doors, they must be properly prepared and painted. All work should be done indoors so that dust does not get on the paint.

Step 1. The door leaf without handles, hooks and loops is laid on a flat, stable surface. During the manufacturing process, the material was already amenable to grinding, but small roughness or protrusions could remain. Therefore, with the help of a grinder or sandpaper, the doors are once again processed on both sides and at the ends. Remove all irregularities, wipe the canvas from dust.

Step 2 If paint is chosen for the doors, the canvas is first impregnated with a primer. The recesses are treated first, then flat areas. Since the doors are in a horizontal position, drips do not form and the absorption is more even.

Step 3 Allow the surface to dry completely and re-treat it.

Step 4. Now you can paint. For a panel door, a roller is more suitable; for a paneled door, use a narrow brush. The paint should not be too thick, if so, dilute it with thinner. Do not apply paint in a thick layer, this will only lose the quality of the coating. Depending on the covering power, 2 to 4 coats of paint may be needed, each of which must dry completely before applying the next.

Step 5 While the door dries, paint the opening. You can’t leave it unfinished for the same reason as the doors, besides, a painted door in an unpainted opening does not look very harmonious.

After the paint has dried, hinges, a handle, a hook are screwed onto the door and installed in the opening.

If a stain is chosen for the door, a primer is not used. The stain penetrates deep into the wood, staining the fibers and increasing the protective properties of the material. There are several ways to apply stain, which give different results.

Advice. To avoid discrepancies in color, stain should be purchased with a margin and mixed well in a jar before use. Coloring pigments tend to settle to the bottom, as a result of which, when painting doors, one part may differ in tone from the rest.

stain prices

stain for wood

Use of oil or wax impregnation

Processing doors with oil impregnation also has its secrets. If applied incorrectly, streaks and darker areas may appear on the surface. Before use, the impregnation must be stirred very well, and this must be done several times during the work. Impregnation is applied in any convenient way - with a roller, brush, sprayer or foam rubber sponge. The number of layers depends on the porosity of the material.

So, they collect a little money and evenly distribute it over the surface from edge to edge. It is more convenient to do this along the width of the door leaf. Next, the impregnation is carefully rubbed with a brush or rolled out with a roller, avoiding sagging. The surface dries from 8 to 12 hours, depending on the composition and air temperature. The second layer is applied no later than 24 hours later, otherwise it will not be able to absorb well and its protective properties will decrease.

Wood impregnation prices

impregnation for wood

Painting old doors

Old doors in the bath can also be reanimated and made no less attractive than new ones. Although this process is more laborious, everyone can cope with it. For convenience, the door must be removed from the hinges and laid horizontally, but if for some reason it cannot be removed, you will have to work like this.

Step 1. The door leaf is removed from the hinges, laid on a flat surface. Unscrew handles, hinges, take out locks. If you can’t unscrew it, wrap them with tape or foil.

Step 2 Using an abrasive nozzle, remove all layers of old paint to the base.

If there are puttied areas, the putty is also completely cleaned. There is another convenient way to remove the paint: the top layer of the coating is heated with a building hair dryer until the paint begins to swell, and then scrape it off with a metal spatula.

Step 3. Sweep pieces of paint and dust from the canvas, after which the surface is carefully polished. In hard-to-reach places it is convenient to use sandpaper. After grinding, there should be no rough areas, small irregularities, scratches.

Door leaf sanding

Step 4 Carefully inspect the door from all sides, check the tightness of the connections, if necessary, strengthen the frame with metal corners and self-tapping screws.

Step 5 The resulting recesses and cracks must be repaired with a new putty. Putty is suitable for any color under alkyd paint, it will not shine through anyway. If it is planned to treat the surface with oil impregnation, wax or varnish, the shade of the putty should match the color of the door leaf.

Advice. If the wood has darkened greatly from time to time, it can be bleached a little: bleach is mixed with water in a ratio of 1: 3 and the surface is abundantly moistened. When it brightens, the door is well washed with clean water and dried in the air.

Sanding dried putty

Step 8. With a damp cloth, wipe the canvas from dust from all sides. Next, cover the door with a uniform layer of primer. Instead of the usual primer, you can take an antiseptic impregnation. Joints and recesses must be especially carefully processed.

Step 9 For staining, you need a thin brush and roller.

When the primer dries, take a brush and first paint all the jumpers, recesses, decorative overlays, panels. Further, with the help of a roller, even wide areas are painted.

The paint is applied in a thin and even layer, carefully rubbed in one direction. The second layer can be applied no earlier than the first one dries. In this case, the top layer is always applied perpendicular to the bottom one, that is, if the first layer was applied along the width of the doors, then the second one must be done longitudinally. It is especially important to observe this rule when using a brush that leaves strokes.

Step 10. Leave the canvas to dry, start painting the door frame in the opening. It is exactly the same here: a thin brush is used at the joints, and a roller is used on flat areas.

Wood paint prices

wood paint

If the door is not removed from the hinges, for convenience it is fixed with wooden wedges on both sides so that there is maximum access to all parts of the leaf. The wedges should be fixed as firmly as possible, otherwise the canvas may move during operation. All further actions are performed in the same way. When painting, be careful not to form streaks. Handles and hinges, other fittings should also be cleaned of dirt, sanded, relubricated for ease of movement.

When processing doors with a stain, it should be taken into account that dark spots remain from splashes that have fallen on clean wood, which appear through 2-3 layers of dye. Therefore, if you are painting a door that has not been removed from its hinges, it is recommended to apply the stain very carefully and from the bottom up. The roller or brush must not be dipped too hard into the liquid to avoid streaks. A canvas with streaks and dark spots looks sloppy even under a layer of varnish.

From the use of water-based stain, wood fibers tend to straighten out, from which the surface becomes rough. To eliminate such a defect, sanding with fine-grained sandpaper will help. After secondary treatment with a stain, the canvas remains smooth.

Video - Painting wooden doors

Video - Door painting technology