There is nothing more discouraging than having to redo the same job because you didn't do it right the first time. Such was the case with our south side door. Originally when I tried to spackle the door, I used wood filler to fill the huge cracks along the bottom. However it didn't move with the door's expansion and contraction through the winter snow and southern sun and left me with flaking paint and a swelling door. I also hadn't perfected my paint stripping technique at the time so the rest of the paint wasn't as smooth as I'd prefer. So today I stripped the less than one year old paint and cleaned out the gaps. Then it was sanded with 60 grit, 120 grit and finally 220 grit paper. Finally I coated the whole door with a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and mineral spirits. And that's what you see here. I'll let the linseed oil dry before filling the gaps with glazing compound and then start with an oil based primer. The grain really pops out with the linseed, and you can tell where the wood has been exposed over time. It's nice to see the door come back to life.
You might try a two part wood epoxy to fill the gaps. I use it to repair rotted wood. It looks like wood (you actuially can stain it instead of painting it if you want to), paints like the real stuff (be sure to prime) and holds up very nicely.
ReplyDeleteNo suggestions here... I'm just jealous that you have your original doors. :)
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