Thread: Finishing both sides of a door

If you want to finish it in a workshop environment (rather than where it will be fitted), then hang it in a temporary frame and then apply the finish to both sides.

When I have needed to do this I have used two nails in each of the top and bottom edges and rest the nails on support blocks that keep the down side safely off the worktop. Paint one side and the edges, flip and paint the other. A little care needs to be taken that any build up around the edges doesn't form drippy blobs underneath. Usually the nail holes are not noticeable if you choose the smallest nail that will hold the weight.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

When I have needed to do this I have used two nails in each of the top and bottom edges and rest the nails on support blocks that keep the down side safely off the worktop. Paint one side and the edges, flip and paint the other. A little care needs to be taken that any build up around the edges doesn't form drippy blobs underneath. Usually the nail holes are not noticeable if you choose the smallest nail that will hold the weight.

Ditto. You will probably need someone to help turn the door over if it is a large door.

I also use the nail trick. You don't say what sized door, but if it's a house door, I rest the nails on saw horses. I use heavy 75mm or 100mm long nails. They won't bend and are long enough to keep the ends of the door clear of the saw horses. They also make sturdy "handles" for when you flip the door. Pre-drill to prevent splitting the door.

I won't call it a myth as it can happen, but I very much consider it unlikely if you're doing things properly.

In the last joinery I worked in, I was the paint shop. (Or rather it was one of the many hats I wore there. )

Most products were primed as part of the sale, some were painted, some left raw. So, being inherently lazy, I often wouldn't set up the 'booth' until we had enough doors/frames/whatever to make it worthwhile and I typically simply leaned doors against battens on walls while frames, etc. were suspended from hooks. Limited space, etc.

Naturally, this meant the doors were only painted one side at a time.

*However* both sides of the doors were always treated the same over the course of the same day. If one side had two coats, t'other side also had two coats before I knocked off.

If the temp/humidity is changing quickly enough that there may be significant differences in conditions between the painting of the two sides, then that is not a good day to be doing any painting anyway. I wouldn't even bother firing up the compressor.