A Good Way To Stain A Door

I’m remodeling a bathroom in Naperville, and the customer wanted the old swinging door converted to a pocket door. A new door was purchased and then stained to match the original doors. Time had changed the stain color of the original doors, and the new door had to match them as closely as reasonable.

See the photos below for the steps that I took to stain and finish the new pocket door.

Having access to a painting booth helps in winter weather.
Several different stain colors were combined to match the original door color.
Screws were temporarily added to suspend the door between two sawhorses.
Setting up the sprayer.
The use of a sprayer made sure that hard to reach places received adequate stain.
A clean rag is used to evenly distribute the stain on the door.
A panel from the original door is used to confirm the color match.
Naturally, I also had to stain the door casing trim.
This rack provides a perfect place for the door casing pieces to dry.
High-quality lacquer provides a durable topcoat.
The door after the first coat of lacquer. A second coat will be applied after this coat is dried and sanded.