Coming together
Written by julio on July 6th, 2008This is the part where you simultaneously realize how good things are going to look, feel like you are making progress and become completely aware of how long it’s going to take to finish. It’s a 50/50 mix of elation and dread. Today I sanded Ginger’s closet doors and got the first coat of stain on them. The fir looks simply beautiful. I don’t think anything can touch old growth fir in terms of warmth. While new doors, such as the ones we put in the kitchen, look great, the vertical grain doesn’t look as varied or interesting as the flat-sawn to me. And if you don’t remember, we scored these old cabinet doors for $40 at the Rebuilding Center. There aren’t many places where you can find 5′ doors, especially for a great price. Of course the real “price” comes when your back is sore from spending hours and hours bent over while sanding and staining 
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Greeting from one form of insanity to another! A great looking door, and you have the satisfaction of knowing it’s reused (reduce, reuse, recycle), even it does take more work.
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I love those doors. My house only has single panel doors, but I may try to find some like yours when I finish the basement.
If you like the interesting flat grain more than the vertical grain, you should see the old-growth curly doug fir in my dining room that I stripped, primed and painted back over. I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture for fear of a lynch mob showing up on my front doorstep if I posted them.
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You were wise not to document that!
Reminds me of this story:
http://bungalowinsanity.com/2004/08/22/no-new-life-for-old-growth/
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The door looks great! Tons of work, no doubt, but completely lovely.
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Your doors look great. What color is your stain and where did you take your doors to get stripped? I’m embarking on a refinishing a couple doors, any tips are appreciated. I’m in the Seattle area.
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Hey, Robert. We are very fortunate to have a place down here in Portland called Houck’s Stripping. It can be challenging to find, because if you search for “Portland stripping,” you will come up with something else entirely.
There website is http://www.dipdoors.com
I’ll bet if you contact them, they will know someone in Seattle, or maybe they’ll just try to talk you into driving down with all your doors
You can see more examples of the results on our site by typing “stripping” or “houck’s” into the search box.
And lastly, our stain of choice is Minwax Red Mahogany. We used it in our kitchen and have gotten hooked on it’s beautiful, deep color. Staining is the one area where we keep trying to use some more enviro-friendly products, but have never found one that doesn’t either raise the grain or is just too light.