Sanding Interior Doors
Sand stained windows and doors by hand using finer paper and sponges.
Sanding interior doors. If there s some dye stain left in the wood i use chlorine bleach which is good for removing dye stains without affecting the natural color of the wood. Sanding stained surfaces is virtually the same whether you re working on an interior or exterior project. Prehung hollow core interior wood doors have a thin wood veneer over a laminated fiber panel.
Usually with a refinish job sanding is awfully time consuming especially on raised panel doors. As you can see sanding doors is a unique task that s highly dependent on 2 things. I first strip using goudey paint or lacquer then scrape it off wash with diluent and sand.
A nice wood stain that matches the wood work and compliments the color scheme in the room can make even a 30 door look expensive. Change sanding discs often to avoid creating swirl marks on the door with the sander. And secondly their design.
Sand all of the flat areas of the door including the center portion of the raised panels. While hollow core doors are often great budget savers when compared to solid wood panel doors there s no reason they can t be attractive. If the finish is in good shape smooth rough edges and brush marks with 180 grit abrasive paper or a fine sponge.
By place i mean where the doors actually are will you be sanding them where they re mounted or will they be unattached from the hinges and placed on a desk floor. Flat doors take well to paint rollers while doors with panels decorative insets or slats are best painted with a brush. Wipe the door with a cloth dampened with mineral.
After any imperfections are filled cured and sanded sand the entire door surface with 120 grit sandpaper either manually or with a power sander. Place a 150 grit sanding disc on the orbital sander. Aggressive sanding can remove the veneer and expose the panel beneath which will not absorb stain.