would you paint over original wood doors?

[Anonymous]

hi, all.

we're getting ready to put our condo on the market and have asked our trusted realtor for his recommendations for sprucing up the place. it's a beautiful old building from the 1910s, so it has lots of old-school charm. one of the things I love about the place -- the wood doors. they are a deep brown and they're lovely. (or at least I[i] think they are!) they're in perfect shape.

the realtor thinks the doors don't do anything for the place. he says the doors make the place look darker than it is. I would think that people who want to buy in an old building like ours would appreciate having the doors in their original state.

I'm not going to be living there, so I don't know why I feel so strongly about keeping these doors unpainted. and I definitely want our place to sell!

any thoughts or advice?

[Anonymous]

I would never do it, but again I am not selling my place.

When I bought my place (and old house), all the interior doors (not in good shape) were stained with a not-so-nice brown stain. I removed all doors and sent me to a stripping place so that the dark stain would be removed. They came back much lighter, and then I refinished them (it took me months of DYI to sand and varnish them during the evenings). I also polished the tarnished hardware. The doors are now absolutely beautiful and it really really adds to the beauty of the whole place.

But, if I were selling the place, I don't know whether I would do that -- it is much more DIY work than just painting the doors.

Another possibility is to have the stripping place strip (i.e. remove the stain) and then varnish the doors. I guess stripping a door is probably $100 per door; I pressume varnishng the door is another $100 per door but I am not sure.

And, in the event that you go ahead and paint them, at least seal them before priming and painting (for example with a DEWAXED shellac), so that the future owner, in theory will have a much easier time stripping them back to raw wood, in the unlikely event they want to do it. But they probably won't strip them once they are painted. If you don't use a sealer, at least use a good primer.

[Anonymous]

Our house is 1920s-era with original (or at least very old) doors and trim, all painted white by a previous owner. I personally like it, I think it fits well with the style of the house (tudor, very traditonal), but I don't have anything to compare it to. I'm not sure what I'd do it in your situation, just thought I'd chime in as someone who bought an old house and liked the white finish.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I prefer lighter paint.

But many old house enthusiasts do, indeed, prefer the original (or restored) dark finish. It's pretty easy to paint trim and doors, but much harder to remove paint! I'd say leave it, and let the next owner choose.

[Anonymous]

Don't do it.

[Anonymous]

PLEASE don't do it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I prefer lighter paint.

But many old house enthusiasts do, indeed, prefer the original (or restored) dark finish. It's pretty easy to paint trim and doors, but much harder to remove paint! I'd say leave it, and let the next owner choose.

Agree with this.

[Anonymous]

I don't like dark wood doors, so I would have already painted them. Also, I trust my realtor and would follow her advice.

Why don't you look online at other houses for sale in your price bracket/neighborhood/style and see what they've done? I just say this because I think most of the homes in my historic neighborhood have white painted doors. I suppose if I lived in a Tudor, or in the Pacific Northwest, I might feel differently.

Also take a look at a few home design magazine - I think you'll see a lot of neutral walls and white doors.

[Anonymous]

No, if the new owners want them painted let them do it.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it. Your doors sound just lovely as they are.

[Anonymous]

We've always bought old houses and have had original doors both not painted and painted. If I was selling and the realtor recommended painting the doors white I would do it. If someone comes along and wants to buy your house because of the doors they will be willing to bring them back to wood. You'll appeal to more people with a light, open feeling which is easier achieved with white painted wood doors. To sell (which is your goal, right?) you want to appeal to the most people - the people who are really into wood doors are fewer for sure.

[Anonymous]

Omg, are you kidding me? Do not do it. If someone is buying an older house, then they should know enough about repai/remodeling to know that they can paint the doors in two seconds if they want. On the other hand, for someone like me who loves character, I would fall in love with unpainted doors.

Did you know that Thomas Jefferson painted the doors in his house to look like a more expensive version of wood than they really were? Our tour of Monticello revealed that he was a bit of a social climber. But any tips from the TJ book of style are worth following, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Our house in Arlington was built in 1938. All the molding and doors are white. Previous owner had them painted. I've been in other neighbor's houses that have the dark doors and moldings and I have to say that I prefer ours because the house is much brighter. We also have white plantation shutters so it all looks really good together.

We are getting ready to put our house on the market too (next Thursday!!) and I am also frantically trying to get it ready. It's exhausting work!!

Good luck to you!!!!

[Anonymous]

Oh please don't paint them! Most likely the people who would would be interested in a 1910 building will be the sort who appreciate the beauty of stained wood doors. Wood has to be really good quality to be stained and it would be a shame to cover that up with paint if they are in good shape.

[Anonymous]

To repeat: Potential buyers who like light woodwork will realize that painting wordwork in not that hard. Potential buyers who like wood-colored woodwork know that stripping woodwork is hell on earth.

Ask your realtor how much wood s/he has stripped.