Customer was about to spend $3K on a new front door because the existing one looked tired. We took one look at the slab, solid wood, good frame, no weather damage, and said the only issue was 15 years of fading paint. Quote was a tenth of replacement.
What we did
Four hours, single painter, brought the door inside the front foyer:
- Removed the door from hinges (15 minutes), set on sawhorses in the foyer
- Stripped the old paint with a heat gun where it had built up, flakes pulled off cleanly
- Sanded the bare-wood spots, primed
- Removed the four window shutters from the brackets, brought them inside too
- Two coats of premium satin-black enamel on door and shutters
- Re-hung the door before leaving (paint cures hard enough overnight to handle without smudging)
Worth knowing
Painted-in-place doors look painted-in-place. Removing the door takes 30 minutes and gives you a finish indistinguishable from a new door. Most painters won't do it because it's extra work, that's the difference.
