Interior Door Painting and Refinishing in Red Mountain Ranch, Mesa
A Red Mountain Ranch couple wanted nine dated, orange-toned doors taken to a clean white and their 8-foot wood entry door refreshed instead of replaced. MetroPrime handled both, down to new hardware, as part of the ongoing work at their home.
Mike and Valerie were already deep into updating their Red Mountain Ranch home when the doors came up. The walls were painted, the repairs were done, and the rooms were starting to feel finished. The doors were the holdout. Nine interior doors were still a dated, orange-toned stained wood with a high-gloss finish that made them look older than the rest of the house, and the 8-foot front entry door had taken years of Arizona sun on the outside and everyday wear on the inside.
MetroPrime had already handled the great room and kitchen painting and the remodel repairs at the house, so when Mike and Valerie were ready to deal with the doors, they asked MetroPrime to keep going.
Doors are their own kind of project. A door gets touched, bumped and looked at up close every day, so a rushed finish shows fast. Getting nine of them to match, and refinishing a tall wood entry door so it looks intentional rather than patched, takes more prep than paint.
Project Overview
Location: Red Mountain Ranch, Mesa, Arizona, near Red Mountain Ranch Country Club
Property: owner-occupied home in the middle of a remodel
Scope: nine stained interior doors converted to a sprayed Warm White finish, the 8-foot wood front entry door refinished on both sides, and new door hardware
Interior doors: Dunn-Edwards DECOGLO in Warm White DEW380, Eggshell, 2 sprayed coats, over Dunn-Edwards BLOCK-IT primer with Zinsser B-I-N spot priming
Entry door: gel stain, 2 coats, then 3 coats of an exterior-rated clear topcoat
Turning Nine Orange-Toned Doors White
Painting old stained doors white is where a lot of door projects go wrong. Skip the prep and the old stain and gloss bleed through, or the finish stays soft and shows every brush mark.
MetroPrime took the doors off their hinges, labeled them for reinstallation, and lightly sanded and deglossed each one. They were primed with a full coat of Dunn-Edwards BLOCK-IT, a stain-blocking primer tinted to the finish color, with Zinsser B-I-N added as a spot primer wherever the old stain needed extra blocking. Each door then got two sprayed coats of Dunn-Edwards DECOGLO in Warm White, DEW380, in an eggshell finish.
The eggshell choice mattered. A soft, low-glow white moves the doors away from the dated high-gloss look. DECOGLO is a urethane-modified acrylic door and trim paint that Dunn-Edwards rates for film hardness and block resistance, so the finish holds up to daily use and the doors do not stick to their jambs. Spraying them off the hinges, rather than brushing them in place, gives them a factory-smooth look instead of a repainted one.
Refinishing the 8-Foot Wood Entry Door
The front entry door was solid wood, a full eight feet tall and worth keeping, not replacing. The outside had taken the sun and the inside had taken daily use, so both sides were stripped back before anything new went on.
Michael refinished the door himself over four days, working around the dry time each stage needed. Both sides received two coats of gel stain to build an even, consistent color, followed by three coats of an exterior-rated clear topcoat. Refinishing kept the character of the original door while giving the outside real protection against Arizona weather.
New Hardware to Finish It
After the doors were done, MetroPrime came back to install new hinges and flush bolts. It is a small detail, but new hardware keeps freshly finished doors from being paired with worn, mismatched metal.
The Result
The nine interior doors came out a clean, consistent Warm White that carried the updated look through the house, and the entry door looked deliberate again on both sides, with new hardware tying it together.
The door work was one piece of a longer relationship. MetroPrime, a Mesa painting contractor, had already handled Mike and Valerie's great room and kitchen painting, and Mike later brought MetroPrime back for exterior work on a nearby rental. Good work on one part of a home is what leads a homeowner to hand over the next part.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can dated, stained wood doors be painted white?
Yes. The key is prep. These nine orange-toned, high-gloss doors were deglossed, primed with BLOCK-IT and spot-primed with Zinsser B-I-N where needed to block the old stain, then finished with two sprayed coats of DECOGLO so none of the old orange or gloss showed through.
Can an old wood entry door be refinished instead of replaced?
Yes. A solid wood door, especially a tall 8-foot one, is usually worth saving. This door was stripped on both sides, then built back up with two coats of gel stain and three coats of an exterior-rated clear topcoat so the outside can stand up to the Arizona sun.
Can MetroPrime replace door hardware too?
Yes. After refinishing, MetroPrime installed new hinges and flush bolts so the finished doors were not left with worn metal.
Your Home. Refreshed. Not Disrupted.
Planning to update the doors in your Red Mountain Ranch or Mesa home? Whether you want dated doors taken to a clean white or a wood entry door refinished instead of replaced, MetroPrime can handle the prep, the finish and the hardware. You can also see more about our interior house painting in Mesa.
Get your free estimate to talk through what your doors need. Serving Mesa and Gilbert, AZ.
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