Adventures in Door Refinishing
If you’ve ever tried to dramatically slam a door only to be met with a very unsatisfying “wwwfff,” you might appreciate this post.
After living in a variety of houses with a variety of door types, I’ve realized doors are one of those things you never think much about… until you do. I’ve also come to appreciate just how expensive solid core doors are—and that even with their high price tag, they still aren’t quite the same as a good old-fashioned solid oak door.
So when we decided to remodel our upstairs bathroom, I was adamant that we save the original door and make it work with the new layout.
There was just one problem: I had absolutely no idea how to refinish a door well enough for it to feel worthy of our newly renovated bathroom.
So today I’m sharing what I learned—along with a few things I definitely would not do again—if you’re considering refinishing an old door yourself.
Like most of our projects, my husband handled the major construction aspects while I focused on the detail work and the tasks that require a little more patience (cough cough drywall mudding). In this case, I took on refinishing the beautiful original oak bathroom door and modifying it to work better for our new setup.
The Problems We Needed to Solve
First, the door originally swung inward with the toilet sitting directly behind it. This meant lots of bruised knees—and maybe a dropped phone or two—every time one of the kids decided they urgently needed something while I was in there. We wanted to reverse the swing so the door opened out into the hallway and gave the bathroom a little more breathing room.
Second, we needed to install a new locking handle for reasons mentioned above.
And lastly, the door itself was in desperate need of some TLC.
Before we bought the house, this bathroom contained the only shower in the home and had no ventilation. Years of moisture exposure had left the door faded, stained, and slightly mildewed. The two sides didn’t even remotely match in color anymore, so I wanted to restore it, unify the finish, and protect it from future water damage.
Materials List
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- Cotton balls
- Acetone
- Detail sander
- Sandpaper (80, 120, 220)
- Stain
- Bar Keepers Friend
- Citristrip
- Razor blade
- Screwdriver
- Bondo
- Mineral spirits
- Steel wool
- Door knob
- Lock kit
Removing the Old Finish
After removing the door, I set up shop in the garage and removed all the old hardware, tossing it into a Ziplock bag for later. Since there was very little finish left on the door to begin with, I used cotton balls dipped in acetone to remove any remaining varnish residue.
Then came sanding.
I started with 80 grit because I wanted to aggressively remove as much of the water-damaged surface as possible. After that, I worked my way through 120 grit and finished with 220 grit to smooth everything out.
The interior side of the door still had some stubborn iron oxidation staining visible even after sanding. I tried making a paste with Bar Keepers Friend and letting it sit for about an hour before scrubbing with a toothbrush, but honestly, it didn’t make much difference. Since patience was wearing thin at that point, I went back to sanding and managed to improve it quite a bit that way.
Dealing With the Old Mortise Lock
Next came figuring out how to deal with the giant hole left behind by the old mortise lock.
I looked into finding a modern mortise lock that could still lock, but the options were expensive and I wasn’t confident they would fit correctly. They do make metal door reinforcers that cover old hardware holes, but that wasn’t really the look I was going for.
After a little research, my options came down to using a Dutchman patch or some type of wood filler.
Why I Chose Bondo Instead of a Dutchman Patch
A Dutchman patch involves cutting out the damaged portion of the door into a clean shape and fitting a matching wood patch into place. It’s generally considered the “correct” repair because it can create a nearly seamless finish. But honestly, it felt a little too ambitious for me at the time. It required more precision, more time, and ideally wood that matched the existing door grain well enough to disappear into the repair. I wasn’t confident I could pull that off.
So instead, I opted for Bondo, which is a two-part resin filler commonly used for larger repairs.
The downside is that Bondo doesn’t stain like wood. If you’re painting a door, this isn’t really an issue, but since I wanted to preserve the wood look, it mattered a little more. Luckily, after holding up the new door hardware, I realized most of the repair area would be hidden by the backplate anyway. The only truly visible section would be the edge of the door where the old lock plate had been, and honestly, I could live with that.
Since Bondo cures quickly, I worked in small batches and slightly overfilled the holes. Once it hardened, I sanded everything flush. I also used regular wood filler for smaller nail holes and dings.
I wasn’t aiming for perfection. Old houses have character, and I think a few imperfections come with the territory. I just wanted the door to feel sturdy, polished, and functional again.
At that point, I was finally ready to stain and seal the door.
My PolyShades Mistake
On one of my many rushed Lowe’s trips for bathroom materials, I grabbed a can of PolyShades because it advertised itself as both stain and polyurethane in one product. In my mind, this sounded amazing: fewer steps, less waiting, less work.
Unfortunately, reality had other plans.
I applied it according to the directions to one of the pieces of trim and was pretty pleased with how it turned out. Then I started on the door, expecting similar results, but it dried much faster than I anticipated and became patchy almost immediately. I convinced myself maybe it would level out as it dried, then promptly spiraled into internet searches trying to figure out what I had done wrong.
Turns out… a lot of people hate this product.
Apparently it can work for smaller projects, but getting an even finish on large surfaces like doors is notoriously difficult.
So now I had two choices:
- Accept the uneven finish and move on.
- Strip the entire thing and start over.
Naturally, as a perfectionist, I chose the harder option.
I bought Citristrip, coated the door, waited for it to soften the finish, then spent a very unglamorous afternoon scraping everything back off with a paint scraper and razor blade before sanding the entire thing again. Then I gave the whole thing a good cleaning with mineral spirits and steel wool.
Back to square one.
Round Two: Finding the Right Stain
This time, I went with a traditional oil-based stain.
I wanted something that roughly matched the rest of the woodwork in our house since we were keeping the original trim outside the bathroom. During my online research, I kept seeing people recommend Minwax Early American and Gunstock for early 20th-century homes. After comparing samples, I chose Gunstock.
I grabbed a can and headed home to apply it. Immediately… I hated it.
It pulled way more red than I expected. But instead of stopping to rethink my life choices, I continued staining all the new trim pieces we had purchased for the doorway because apparently I enjoy making things harder for myself.
Once it dried, I still wasn’t happy.
So back to the store I went—this time for Early American. I really did not want to sand everything back again, so instead I layered the new stain directly over the Gunstock.
And surprisingly? It worked.
It still wasn’t a perfect match, but it was close enough that it blended reasonably well with the rest of the house.
Finally feeling like I had regained control of the situation, I applied the stain to the remaining trim and finished everything with two coats of polyurethane for protection against future moisture damage.
I think during this step in the process the stress and frustration had finally caught up to me because I don’t have any pictures of the ugly red stain. You’ll just have to take my word for it. I do, however, have a picture of the double stained and polyurethaned trim piece because my husband was waiting on it so he could start tiling.
Reusing the Original Hardware
I also dug the old hinges out of storage since we planned to reuse them. They were looking pretty rough, so I refreshed them by boiling them in a 50/50 vinegar and water solution before polishing them with Bar Keepers Friend and steel wool.
At that point, my part of the project was mostly finished.
My husband used a door lock installation kit to drill the new holes for the updated hardware and carefully chiseled new hinge mortises into the door frame to accommodate the reversed swing direction. We didn’t bother filling the old hinge recesses since they don’t really bother us, though apparently metal filler plates do exist for that purpose if you want a cleaner look.
Rehanging the Door
Then came rehanging the door—which sounds simple but involved significantly more adjusting, muttering, and “hold on, try it now” than expected.
But eventually, we got it.
The door swings the correct direction.
It locks.
And most importantly, I no longer fear kneecap injuries while using the bathroom.
Is it a perfect match with the surrounding trim? No.
The old and new wood stain slightly differently, and since we couldn’t salvage all of the original bathroom trim, some of the replacement oak pieces are visibly newer. But we were able to save and reuse the beautiful top trim piece with its intricate molding, which helps tie everything together.
And honestly, I think the slight differences add character.
For having multiple wood species, different ages of lumber, and materials spanning over a century, expecting everything to match perfectly was probably unrealistic anyway.
But if there’s one thing I learned from this project, it’s this: do your research on products, test stains before committing, and don’t rush decisions just because you’re trying to stay on schedule. It’ll save you a whole lot of sanding later.
Final Thoughts
In the end, refinishing this door turned into a much bigger learning experience than I expected. What I thought would be a quick cosmetic project became a series of trial and error, product testing, second guessing, and a few “well…that didn’t work” moments. But honestly, that seems to be the pattern with old houses. Rarely is there one perfect solution, and sometimes the best you can do is learn as you go and adjust along the way.
Is it perfect? No. The stains don’t match exactly, the old and new wood still have their differences, and if you look closely you can definitely spot the imperfections. But it’s solid, functional, and still carries a piece of the house’s history with it—and to me, that’s worth a lot more than replacing it with something brand new.
And maybe most importantly… the door now locks, swings the correct direction, and allows me to use the bathroom in peace, which feels like the biggest win of all.
