Hi,

I have recently moved into a new house with interior wooden doors.

I have had to replace one.

I want it to 'paint' it to look like the others. What do I use? varnish, stain etc?

Also how do I ensure the same colour, just get a colourt chart from the shop?

Thanks

If the doors are stained/varnished it will depend on the type of wood the new door is made from to get a colour match. Getting an exact match could be tricky, as there are variables in this: age of the existing doors, how much the wood may have lightened/darkened with age or UV exposure. Again, with paint, the existing paint will have faded or yellowed with age, so even if you get a colour match to look OK, you're still going to have 1 fresh door against the existing doors.

Also, have you any idea when the area in question was last decorated, as this will have a big impact on the overall condition of the paintwork, and how to match any new paint to it.

From your post it's not clear if the doors are varnished, stained or painted. This is pure guesswork without some more information and preferably some photos.

Add to what Bouncing Elephant man said ... a photograph might help.

I read this one earlier and avoided it because its one of the trickier jobs that you can come across as already posted.

If you're trying various colours just be sure to do it with an offcut that's the same wood as the door.

Good luck!

If it is a pine door,I would leave alone for a while .As you will find it will darken with age ,then may be think about staining

Thanks for all the advice, really helpfull

I don't mind if its not an exact match, as long as its close.

I have no idea when the house was last decorated.

I have some off cuts. Will a shop allow you to test? Or will I need to buy a pot first.

It is a pine door, what is the risk of not satining it? Will it warp?

How do I post a picture? I have saved them to my c drive. I take it that its something to do with the IMG button

How to resize and post pictures in the forums

mod5

Finally resized it!

The new doors

oh expletives here. It is pine doors you have

The first photo looks like there are two colours on the door. You need to see it in the room with natural light and work it out. Anyhow, the top right panel looks like "antique pine" and the bottom of the door like "antique mahogany" (dreadful colour). Is the door towards the red or the brown shade?

The second photo shows pine like it should be.

You would have to buy tins from the shop you can't try your off cuts there. You have two ways of going about it (once you have identified the colour you want).

a. Stain or dye which are simply colour to apply it on the wood. You apply thin and fast and wipe a few minutes later and keep repeating until you achieve the colour you want. You must not over apply and create dark patches. The you finish with clear varnish (matt, satin or gloss) of your choice.

b. you use a varnish with dye it it (again matt, satin or gloss(. It probably makes application easier.

The problem with pine is it yellows over time (from 6 months onwards) so whatever colour you see when you do the doors will not be the colour you will have a few years down the road. Hence all the ugly (in my eyes) yellowish pine stuff.

Wait to see how other people see the colour of the door you have.
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I hate to say this but I would give them a coat of knot sealer and paint them white (or any colour for this matter) but that's me.

Cheers
Charles

Before you do anything go on a hunt round the house, in the garage, under the stairs, in the loft, in the shed.... Anywhere where the last owner my have stashed some old paint / varnish tins.

Failing that go to a decorating centre ( a proper one not B&Q!) and pick up some colour swatches, for stains and varnishes you'll find these are normally transparent so you can place them over the wood and it will give you an indication of the colour it will produce.

Try brands such as Sikkens, Cuprinol, Sadolin... In fact just pick up colour cards from all of them

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Professional Kitchen & Bathroom Fitters | Master Painters and Decorators | Brighton & Hove

I would also go for oil based, if your not handy with a brush water based varnishes can make a right mess, i.e. joining marks darker lighter areas, not much open time!

You can order some of those for free from the Dulux Trade website. They normally come in two days too.

Paint them white