A customer came in late last week asking if I could help him with some stain. He said Home Depot told him he could stain his own door. Sure no problem, he explains the door was stained and came out a little too blotchy. Ok, bring it in and I’ll show you how to fix it. He grabs the door and I take a look, I laughed and asked how much a new door would cost lol. Not only is it blotchy, but the color isn’t in the ball park. To make matters worse after staining it he put the first coat of clear on it :banghead:
Here’s where he went wrong:
- Didn’t sand his new pine door. When doors get milled the saw creates a film we call a mill glaze on the surface of the door. Sanding breaks the glaze and lets the stain penetrate more evenly.
- Used crappy Minwax gel stain. Gel stains are intended for fiberglass doors or for refinishing furniture that couldn’t be stained completely. They are too thick to use with success on raw wood which added to his blotchiness.
What I did to correct it:
- Since there is a sealer on the stain I scuffed the sealer with 120 grit sand paper. If there wasn’t a sealer I could stain over it but this wasn’t the case.
- Match the color he was truly looking for.
- Mix 1 part correct stain to 4 parts polyurethane, stir and brush 2 coats on.
This covered his shitty stain job and created the color he intended. Here’s the pictures, I couldn’t get an after pic because he was in the store when I finished, didn’t wanna piss him off. You can see the trim piece laying on the door, thats the color he was trying to match.
Cliffs: Don’t rely on the morons at home depot to tell you how to stain a door.