Final Finish Door Refinishing

It's time to talk door refinishing.  A beautiful front door does so much for the curb appeal of your home whether you are looking to sell or have that look you can really be proud of.  We want to share with you important details to expect in your door project. 

The picture above shows you a door that was just refinished by another finisher on the left and one just finished by us on the right.  Before we begin we want to make clear a couple of things.  This is not intended to put down anyone else and we will not use any names.  It is also not intended to say that the other door is the worst thing ever.  If I had the before picture, you would see that the person that paid for this to be done has an improved look to their door.  Our point is not that it was a rip off, it is that there is a better option in Final Finish and here is why.

The first thing to note is that the door on the left was sanded and finished in place and not finished in a shop where conditions are managed better and you have better access to all your tools of the trade.  Final Finish installs secure plywood blanks while we have your door in our shop for a short time.  The specific benefits of this are:

1. As mentioned already, the controlled environment.  Weather does not impact us in the shop like it may working onsite.  
2. The door is easier to work on lying flat in our shop vs. standing vertical in place at home.  This is better for stripping and finishing.
3. Our color is more consistent because we are applying the stain in the shop instead of out in the open where it may dry too fast on you and cause splotchy color.
4. With the door lying flat, our finish applications flow out more evenly, smoother, slicker, and almost no chance of runs as you can see in the picture on the left.
5. Timely completion of job.  Weather will not stop us from moving your door project forward like it would onsite.  We take your door down on Monday and almost without exception, it is hanging back up by Thursday or Friday.  We are able to work on our pace and schedule rather than get pressed trying to make it out to the jobsite and possibly compromise on our many step process.
6. Durability.  We have had a very good track record of longevity of our door finishes.  A lot of that has to do with the product we use, but it also has to do with our controlled in shop application process.

The next distinction to point out is the detail of the sanding.  We have shared recently about our sanding process and how critical it is.  If you look at the pictures above, you will see many circular sanding marks in the one on the left and nothing but the beautiful wood grain on our door.  Likely reasons for the difference:

1. Proper sanding grits used.  We used 5 levels or different grits of sanding to go from a rough cut to strip the finish to a fine smooth feel with no visible sanding marks.
2. Price and time built in to job.  We price our jobs fairly yet accordingly in a way that does not tempt us to cut corners in our process.  Sanding in the shop allows us easier access to the door to spend the time obtaining this 1st class look.
3. Experience and eye for the detail.  Final Finish has been at this for 27 years and knows exactly what to look for before proceeding to the next phase of finishing.

The final visible distinction is color and finish. Application and conditions are the most like reasons for this.  They are:

1. As previously mentioned, staining in shop without temperature or wind conditions playing as much of a factor in drying the stain too quickly causing it to dry in patches vs soaking in evenly and beautifully into the wood.
2. Application.  Final Finish sprays on our finishes instead of brushing them on.  A brushed finish will NEVER flow out as slick and pretty as spraying it on.

The last details that we would like to cover are the feel and durability of your door finish.  Feel is as important as look in a finish to us and it should to you also.  It is very satisfying at the completion of a project to rub your hand across it and get that slick and smooth feel vs a rougher grittier feel.  And now maybe the most important as it impacts the bottom line of cost is durability.  Our process and products have given us and our customers several examples going strong at 5 years or more.  When you take that into consideration, our price for these projects turns out to be cheaper than the competition.  We just spoke to a customer the other day that had doors that were finished approximately 1 year ago and they looked like they had never been refinished since they were new.  In all conditions, we have had good success with longevity, but location in relation to the sun and how much porch cover you have will impact the length of time your finish lasts. 

Thanks for taking the time to learn about door refinishing and our company's process.  In a future blog we will discuss maintenance of your beautiful door to keep it that way for years to come. 

Call us today for a free consultation of the beautification of your front door.  Have a wonderful day!

Final Finish Crew