Antique Stained Glass Door Revival

 

Door Interior
Before

This antique door was well over 100 years old and had seen plenty of years of wear and weathering. The cracking was pretty severe and the windows, while amazingly weren’t broken, needed some TLC because the framework was deteriorating and held in by glaze. Unfortunately, upon removing some of the paint we discovered the door was not stainable, so our customer chose a fresh coat of paint.

The stripping process is always the most tedious in any refinishing project, but for doors a lot of the difficulty comes in with the type of paint that was used. The older the door, the harder it is to remove the paint. Milk paint was frequently used back then and with our experience, is quite difficult to remove. We either use a chemical stripper or a heat gun (or both) when we remove the old paint from most projects. 

Sometimes it’s just not possible to remove all the paint so we remove as much as we can then sand it smooth and prep it for paint. A coat of primer is necessary for any paint project whether it has had paint on it previously or not. Especially raw wood projects which always require primer. Once primed, painting flows smoothly. 

Door Interior
After

This door required more work because the customer needed the door knob and hardware moved to the opposite side because of where the door would be located, so it was necessary to remove the old hardware, fill the holes left with wood pieces, dowels and filler, sand it smooth and drill new holes on the other side of the door so that it opens correctly. The new hardware they chose was brass.

This door required refinishing as well as carpentry work. Jim made new moldings for the stained glass panels and replaced the center clear glass. The door was out of square so he made sure all was square and plumb which is necessary for a smooth installation.

As you can see in the photo to the right, once installed, the stained glass looked fabulous, adding charm and character to the kitchen. The color of the glass was not visible from the exterior due to the angle of the photo. Photos below are of the exterior before and after photos.

Door Exterior
Before

Door Exterior
After