Sticky Situation:
Restoring Tom's Front Door
Tom had painted his solid timber front door himself, not long after buying the house, and he'd been quietly proud of it ever since. It was one piece of a slow, steady project of looking after the place properly — sorting out damp, adding insulation, redoing plaster — the kind of care that adds up over years rather than weeks.
The latest step was getting the Bath stone on the front elevation repaired, so Tom brought in a stonemason for the work. Through no fault of the mason's own, the job ended up taking longer than planned. The front door had been taped up to protect it during the stonework, but with the delay — and a properly hot summer on top of it — the tape cured onto the paintwork and became almost impossible to shift.
When DIY Meets Its Limit
Tom had a good go at getting the tape off himself, more than once, but it wasn't budging. That's when he called me in.
On arrival, the door was in poor shape. The tape had bonded completely to the paint, and getting it off took real care — a softening solution for the glue, along with careful scraping and sanding, all done slowly to avoid damaging the door any further underneath.
What the Close Inspection Found
Once the tape was off and we could see the door properly, a few more issues came to light:
● Chipping in several places across the surface
● Early signs of water getting into the timber joints
● The very beginnings of timber degradation around a few of those joints
● A more serious old injury: at some point in the past, the door had slammed shut and jammed, catching enough force to snap the timber at the foot of the door
That last one needed a significant repair in its own right.
A Careful, Staged Repair
Rather than rush it, we worked through the job in stages over several days. The door came off its hinges and onto workhorses, where we could properly repair the damaged sections, sand everything back, and go over it with a tack cloth to lift any last trace of dust before paint went anywhere near it.
The result was a lovely, flat, even surface — and once the finish went on, it gave Tom back the door he'd been proud of in the first place, minus the tape marks, chips, and hidden damage.
Tom's been so pleased with it that he's already recommended us to a few neighbours and friends looking to bring their own doors back to a proper finish.
If your front door has taken a knock — from DIY, weather, or just time — get in touch and we'll come and take a proper look.
Footnote: the stonemasonry work on the front elevation that started this whole story is still ongoing — we'll share an update once that's finished too.
