How to Wood Grain a 6 Panel Door

How to Woodgrain a Six Panel Door pt. 1

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One on the most commonly woodgrained surfaces are doors. There are different types of doors. There are 6 panel doors, flush doors, bi-fold doors, exterior doors, interior doors, steel doors and fiberglass doors etc....... In this article I am going to discuss how to grain interior 6 panel door.

Doors are grained the same way that they are painted: one side and one edge of a door belong to each side of the entrance. What I mean by that is for example, a bedroom door has one side and one edge of the door that is painted with the bedroom and it has one side and one edge that gets painted with the hallway. So on any door woodgraining job, you are dealing with potentially two separate color schemes. One side might get grained one color and the other side might get grained another ( or get painted - or maybe not done at all).

The Simplified Graining System

The type of graining I will describe in this article is what I refer to as the "Simplified Graining System" in which we are going to make the door look like wood without trying to copy an exact species of wood. We are also going to use a minimum number of tools. and hopefully do it in one graining step.

Tools

2 1/2" latex application brush

4" chip brush for dry brush dragging

a liner brush

Primer / Base Coat

(click here for how to pick the base coat color and glaze color)

I don't like to waste time so I combine these two steps into one. I use Zinssers 123 Bullseye primer (tinted to my base coat color) as my primer and base coat. 123 Bullseye will accept up to two ounces of colorant and the deep tint version will take up to 4 ounces. Both primers are suitable for interior and exterior surfaces too. Apply the base coat with your latex application brush, your brushing of the base coat will follow the direction of the "boards" on the door. Don't cross brush or use a roller (unless you lay off the stipple with your brush). After the base coat is dry (minimum of 4 hours - overnight if you are not in a hurry), a light sand and a tacking with a micro mesh rag and you are ready to grain.

Graining

(see sequencing order)

Some of the easiest graining you can do is with a brush. The brush method of graining because of the tightness of the grain it lays down, doesn't require under graining (although either under graining or over graining will improve on the appearance - it is not absolutely required). Most beginners can do a good enough job with a brush without a lot of practice.

There are a *few "tricks" you need to follow in order for your graining to look detailed enough to be a good imitation of wood.

Glaze

Modern Masters waterbased Tintable Glaze is my choice here, it holds woodgrain patterns well and tools clean up with soap and water.

continure on to part 2

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