The Heaviest Door I've ever lifted

Yesterday (Saturday), I refinished the front door of our Bungalow. It had an amber shellac finish on it, which had become very two-tone. The bottom 2 feet had long been shaded by the solid portion of the screen door, and looked a lot like a door was supposed to. The rest--above it, was literally sunbaked grime. The power of the sun was very, very evident: especially over almost 90 years. The door is big, and original. It weighed a ton.

The results were so worth it. I worked on the door on the "horizontal," making it much easier. The first step was just using a lot of denatured alcohol and steel wool. Denatured alcohol dissolves shellac, the steel wool makes it faster. Old t-shirts wipe up the grime. I sacrificed 2 to the cause. After the old finish was removed, I lightly sanded the door with 220 sandpaper once, then wiped it off with a wet rag.

The veneer on the outside of the door is quartersawn red oak. Great looking stuff. On the inside, the wood is gumwood, like the rest of the living room. My wife's advice--make the color similar. Having done this in the past with other pieces, I used a Mahogany stain, but had to use it multiple times to get the color even. Then came 2 coats of exterior varnish to seal it all up. The result is perfect. The door is now the welcoming beauty it always was intended to be.

I had some help moving the door out, and moving it back in. As I was hauling it out the door, I met the first fan of this blog known to me. He is an army chaplain, and owns a home 2 1/2 blocks down my street--the only prairie school home in Provo. It was great to meet him and his wife, and once again be reassured that I'm not the only Old House Lover in town.