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Interior Doors
Finishing Instructions
Read all instructions before installation and finishing.
Store Doors in a Protected, Dry Place.
Even if doors are not installed, all doors and frames must be finished within one week of delivery to the job site according to following instructions.
Failure to follow Reeb's care and finishing recommendations may void the door's warranty.
HANDLING
General Notes and
DOOR PREPARATION
Interior Finishing
STAINING YOUR DOOR
Interior Finishing
PAINTING YOUR DOOR
Care and Finishing
CHALKBOARD PANEL DOORS
Table of Contents
FINISHING INSTRUCTIONS
HANDLING
  1. Protect your door from abuse. Take special care with glass.
  2. Avoid dragging doors across one another and keep doors clean.
  3. Store flat on a level surface in a dry, well ventilated building.
  4. Doors should be conditioned to average prevailing relative humidity of the locality before handling.
  5. Doors should not be subjected to extreme or rapid changes in heat or humidity. Avoid sudden changes such as forced heat to dry building.
  6. If the doors are to be stored on the job site, all surfaces including ends and edges must be sealed with an appropriate finish to protect against moisture absorption.
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DOOR PREPARATION
  1. Before applying the first finish coat, remove fingerprints and handling marks, by sanding the entire surface lightly with 5/0 sandpaper (180 grit).
  2. Adjust or align components before finishing. Wood panels float and can be carefully tapped into alignment with a soft wood block and hammer.
  3. After sanding, clean door with a cloth to remove all dust or foreign materials. Avoid caustic or abrasives cleaners.
  4. All surfaces of the door must be properly finished. All edges (top, bottom and sides) should be coated with each and every coat applied to the exterior surfaces.
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STAINING YOUR DOOR
All stained products should use a stain controller prior to staining. Some species stain better than others. Please see the full color Reeb Interior Door Catalogs for stainmeter.
Good preparation is critical for good results. Sand the door and keep it very clean. Use a tack cloth to remove all particulate matter. Stain condition following manufacturers' instructions.
Stain product and let dry. Finish with two or more coats of finish. Interior clear finishes can be varnish, tung/teak oils, laquers, etc.
Oil and Water Based Varnishes - Oil finishes dry slower and give the coat a slight glow in color. Water based varnishes are fast drying and have little or no color and depth.
Oils like tung and teak oils are wipe on finishes. They dry slow and require many coats (4 or more). They typically give an amber color to the finish.
Lacquers are fast drying finishes that are durable and give nice depth and soft color.
A note about Pine:
Pine sometimes varies dramatically in density. The best stained pine finishes come from Ponderosa Pine. This species has the best consistency in density and finished nicely. This is the "best" pine door species. All exterior pine doors are domestic Ponderosa Pine.
The "White Pine" product is beautiful in unfinished color consistency but has characteristic of very pronounced color variation when stained. This variation is not a defect of the wood but is because the variation in cell structure and absorption rates of stains. This is Reeb's "better" product. This product is great for clear coats and paints.
Plantation Pine has very pronounced grain patterns. The trees it is made from are very fast growing and the growth rings are very large. It can stain inconsitently. This is a "good" pine door that is made very well and good for value stain/paint needs.
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PAINTING YOUR DOOR
Unprimed doors should be primed with quality primer followed by two or more top coats of a good quality solvent based or latex enamel paint.
Maintenance.
Best results will include light sanding and thorough cleaning between coats of paint. Do not skip light sanding after applying the coat of primer. Take care not to sand any glass. Let paint dry between coats. Always use top quality brushes, rollers and paint.
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CHALKBOARD PANEL DOORS
Breaking in a new chalkboard door:
  1. Wash the surface daily with cool water for one week.
  2. Wash only a small section at a time, immediately rubbing dry with a lint-free cloth.
  3. Repeat until the entire surface of the door has been washed.
  4. After washing, hold a stick of chalk flat on the board and cover the entire surface.
  5. Erase evenly. The chalkboard is now ready to use.
Maintenance tips:
  1. Clean erasers frequently.
  2. Use white chalk rather than yellow or colored chalk, as the pigments can make them more difficult to erase.
  3. Wash the chalkboard weekly if necessary.
  4. Look for high grade chalk (95% chalk with 5% binder), as inferior chalk maky permanently mark the chalkboard.
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