# Painting door frame or replacing



## greentrees (Apr 28, 2012)

I was originally thinking of replacing some interior doors and buying hanging doors. The original doors are flat and it would be nice to update the look. I have six doors I would like to replace. Looking at the photo, the door jamb is wooden so assume it is not any worse then the jamb I would get from a hanging door. I was thinking of painting the jamb and replacing the trim with 3 to 4 inch trim/casing. Online I saw a place that can replace just the door. They use laser measuring.

A few things:
1) If I paint the jamb white, does it look nice (given that the original is wood). Or it looks like an old jamb painted white
2) Does the laser measuring really work and the door will fit nicely?

I attached a photo of a jamb and trim look that I would like to end up with. The walls will be light grey though.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Painting doors and jams is done all the time. In fact, I've done 4 or 5 homes this year where the homeowners wanted to cover the "old" looking woodwork. Just remember, that white woodwork will need touched up a few times a year. It takes a beating. And, those are oak jams clear-coated so you will need to prime with an oil-based primer for best bonding results, something like Zinsser's Cover Stain and then topcoat with a quality paint like Benjamin Moore's Advance or SW's ProClassic. I'm not a carpenter but I will say it will be a lot of work getting doors properly sized to retrofit into current openings.

P.S. On second look the jams appear to be pine. THe process to paint them is the same though.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I would think the only way laser measuring would work good is if the doors/jambs are removed first.


As noted above removing/replacing the doors with prehungs is a lot of work. While I'm not fond of painting over nice wood - I've done so numerous times. The key is proper prep and the right choice of primer and finish! It normally takes 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of enamel. It doesn't hurt anything if you can see thru the primer coat as long as all the wood has been primed. For a professional looking job you'd want to caulk the jambs/casing as needed.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Don't know why you would need laser measuring unless the doors were some really odd size. We used to replace the slabs but found it was easier to buy pre-hungs and replace the whole thing than rout out for the hinges on the slabs.


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## greentrees (Apr 28, 2012)

I have some Zinsser's Cover Stain. Can I paint using water based paint, semi gloss? Should I sand the jamb and/or use deglosser?


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

We have shops that sell slab doors and pre hung doors. We would pull the doors leaving the hinges on the door and drop them off at the shop, the new door is matched exactly to size you just screw in the new ones on the old jams. If you want them back in one day you have to order the doors and make an appointment for the work.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Cover stain will be fine, it can be top coated with your choice of oil base, latex or waterborne enamel.


The existing finish should be sanded lightly. I like to also wipe it down with liquid deglosser.


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## greentrees (Apr 28, 2012)

Nealtw said:


> We have shops that sell slab doors and pre hung doors. We would pull the doors leaving the hinges on the door and drop them off at the shop, the new door is matched exactly to size you just screw in the new ones on the old jams. If you want them back in one day you have to order the doors and make an appointment for the work.


There is one place here that stops by the house and uses a laser to determine the door size. I will await their quote. I'll call a local door store and see if I can bring in the door to get the same size. 



mark sr said:


> Cover stain will be fine, it can be top coated with your choice of oil base, latex or waterborne enamel.
> The existing finish should be sanded lightly. I like to also wipe it down with liquid deglosser.


Does the liquid deglosser have a usage time. I thought I read that the surface will harden back up, so paint should be applied a certain time after deglossing.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

greentrees said:


> There is one place here that stops by the house and uses a laser to determine the door size. I will await their quote. I'll call a local door store and see if I can bring in the door to get the same size.
> 
> 
> Does the liquid deglosser have a usage time. I thought I read that the surface will harden back up, so paint should be applied a certain time after deglossing.


They need a laser for what, just a sales gimmick 
Tape measure and square has worked for the last 70 years, before that they used a string and a square for 1000s of years and they got it right.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> Does the liquid deglosser have a usage time. I thought I read that the surface will harden back up, so paint should be applied a certain time after deglossing.



Yes, if you wait too long you've not done much other than clean the old finish. I generally start painting as soon as the deglosser has evaporated [no longer wet on the finish] There are instructions on the can.


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