Paint/refinish interior doors?

[Chris22]

My house has all of the original oak trim, and my wife really wants to redo it in white.  The baseboards, casings, etc, no big deal, they're not in great shape and cheap to replace, but the harder part is that we have high-quality solid wood (oak?) doors that I definitely don't want to replace, and I also don't want to ruin.  They look like they've got a varnish or something on them now.

What's the best way to refinish them for painting?  Chemical strip?  Sand?  Something else?  I have 8 doors of various types that need to be redone.

(That closet door peeking out in the corner; pic is during the resanding of the floors, they don't look like that anymore ;))

[FrugalFan]

 You very likely just need to sand the doors enough for primer to adhere to the surface. Then use a good stain blocking primer, and regular paint on top. On doors I would probably use a semi gloss finish so that they can be wiped down more easily.

[Jack]

Painting hardwood trim makes me sad. : (

[Miss Piggy]

Painting hardwood trim makes me sad. : (

Me, too. I hate the cheap white doors and trim that all houses are being built with these days.

[Chris22]

Painting hardwood trim makes me sad. : (

Good news then, I won't be painting it.  I'll be throwing it away and replacing it.  I just want to keep the doors.


Personally, I think the white look is MUCH better, the old orange wood dates the house way too much for me. 

[Miss Piggy]

Have you priced baseboards and casings lately? I just bought some yesterday...over $500 for about 15% of our house. Ugh. Before you decide what to do about the woodwork, you may want to check prices, just in case you decide to paint the trim instead of replace it.

[Chris22]

Have you priced baseboards and casings lately? I just bought some yesterday...over $500 for about 15% of our house. Ugh. Before you decide what to do about the woodwork, you may want to check prices, just in case you decide to paint the trim instead of replace it.

Did you use something really fancy?  I haven't priced it lately, but I did my daughter's nursery in our old house a few years ago, and it was less than $250 for the whole room (including the beadboard). 

My baseboards, etc, is in pretty bad shape (dried out, etc) and my house is small so doing it all won't be too much $$$.

[Miss Piggy]

Have you priced baseboards and casings lately? I just bought some yesterday...over $500 for about 15% of our house. Ugh. Before you decide what to do about the woodwork, you may want to check prices, just in case you decide to paint the trim instead of replace it.

Did you use something really fancy?  I haven't priced it lately, but I did my daughter's nursery in our old house a few years ago, and it was less than $250 for the whole room (including the beadboard). 

My baseboards, etc, is in pretty bad shape (dried out, etc) and my house is small so doing it all won't be too much $$$.

No, we didn't buy the fancy stuff. Got the "paint grade" MDF. But we have five doors in this area of the house, so it adds up.

[Chris22]

Have you priced baseboards and casings lately? I just bought some yesterday...over $500 for about 15% of our house. Ugh. Before you decide what to do about the woodwork, you may want to check prices, just in case you decide to paint the trim instead of replace it.

Did you use something really fancy?  I haven't priced it lately, but I did my daughter's nursery in our old house a few years ago, and it was less than $250 for the whole room (including the beadboard). 

My baseboards, etc, is in pretty bad shape (dried out, etc) and my house is small so doing it all won't be too much $$$.

No, we didn't buy the fancy stuff. Got the "paint grade" MDF. But we have five doors in this area of the house, so it adds up.

Something like this is $5 for 8 feet.  For $500, you bought 800 feet?  Seems like a lot to me. 

[Miss Piggy]

Have you priced baseboards and casings lately? I just bought some yesterday...over $500 for about 15% of our house. Ugh. Before you decide what to do about the woodwork, you may want to check prices, just in case you decide to paint the trim instead of replace it.

Did you use something really fancy?  I haven't priced it lately, but I did my daughter's nursery in our old house a few years ago, and it was less than $250 for the whole room (including the beadboard). 

My baseboards, etc, is in pretty bad shape (dried out, etc) and my house is small so doing it all won't be too much $$$.

No, we didn't buy the fancy stuff. Got the "paint grade" MDF. But we have five doors in this area of the house, so it adds up.

Something like this is $5 for 8 feet.  For $500, you bought 800 feet?  Seems like a lot to me.

We had to buy the 4 1/4 inch baseboards (which are quite a bit more expensive) along with the internal- and external-facing corner pieces. And we got the more modern-looking door casings and "rosettes" (or whatever they're called). It all added up to quite a bit of money.