This Is: A Door

This is an old farmhouse door.

This is paint stripper.

 This is a pair of paint scrapers.

This is vinegar.

This is one gallon of Churchill Hotel Ecru Valspar paint.

This is a refinished farmhouse door.

If only it was that easy

When I found this door in the barn, it was a bit of a mess, but it was structurally solid. It wasn't too weathered and the wood wasn't warped.

The one side, the inside, had at least two coats of paint on it: white and purple. The other side, the outside, didn't look like it was painted. It had, or at least once had, a coat of varnish on it.

My first task was taking off all the hardware. It was pretty rusty, but I had hope for it.

Next, it was time for the paint stripper. It would have taken me dozens of sander pads to get all this paint off. So I sped up the cleaning process.

The paint peeled off like butter. I still had to sand the door, but most of the paint came off easily.

The stripper didn't work as well on the other side, but it got some of the finish off for me.

I ended up with a whole coffee can of old paint. If I die of lead poisoning, you'll know why.

One clean door. You'll notice the glass is missing in the one half of the photo. I left it in for awhile, but eventually took it out because the bottom piece of trim on the one side was missing and the rest was damaged.

So I bought some new trim at Lowe's, and cut it down to size.

Now the window is safely in place.

When I was done with the wood, I went at the metal. A bucket of vinegar and 24 hours can do miracles. A whole lot of elbow grease is also needed. I'm really glad the vinegar worked like the Internet said it would, because the smell of it has always nauseated me a little.

You see, under all that surface rust was brass. It has that gorgeous vintage patina.

The lock was by far the hardest to refurbish, and the biggest pain in the ass. There were a lot of parts to clean, and a lot of nooks and crannies. I found an old skeleton key that almost fits it, but the gap in the tooth needs to be a little wider.

Now here's the rub. While the door is great, and I enjoyed the project for the past couple of months, I don't actually have a use for it. It was once an exterior door, but considering it's a single-paned window, it's probably best suited for indoor use now. So if you know of anyone who needs a new door, let me know. I'll be selling it.