Easy Flat Panel Door Makeover

Easy Flat Panel Door Makeover

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I must have this thing for doors lately... I just finished redoing the front door and now this bathroom door. To see the front door makeover, click on over to 1960 Front Door Makeover. It came out so great!!

Anyway, the real reason I finished the bathroom door, was because it was the last project to finish our guest bathroom and hubby's been wanting me to FINISH projects! 😜 😍

I'm so glad I did too! I wasn't too sure how many panels to do on this door, but in the end we thought that 2 panels felt right for this house. Practically all the doors in this house are flat panel, so I'll be doing this treatment to all of them... eventually.

It's a pretty simple process. This door was painted on one side and stained on the other. I quickly sanded both sides.

Flat panel door

If you've followed me for awhile, you'll know I've used underlayment for all the shiplap projects we've done. (You can check out the list below) It's cheap and easy to work with. Even with the rising cost of lumber this year, it still was only about $15 for a 4x8 ft. sheet. 

Shiplap Accent Wall
A Cheap And Easy Way To Make A Sign
Shiplap The Office
Cheap & Easy Shiplap

So, Hubby and I picked up some underlayment at Lowes. The first thing we did was rip the big sheet in half lengthwise. This made it much easier for me to cut the rest of the strips out by myself. 👍

Here are the measurements for the underlayment strips I cut. Then I dry fitted them on the door.

Measurements for underlayment strips on door

I did this to both sides of the door. To adhere them to the door, I used Gorilla Wood Glue and my trusty Ryobi Airless Nail Gun. Using clamps also helped keep the pieces in place. 

Attaching underlayment strips to flat panel door

You want to make sure that your edges are all even and flush with the edge of the door. 

*Note - Don't forget to recut your door knob hole. After one side was finished, I flipped the door over and cut the door hole with a hole saw. It was easy because there was already an existing hole.

Then I filled all the joints with wood filler and caulked inside the panels with a paintable caulk.

Wood fill joints and caulk panels

The other thing I had to do while the wood filler was drying, was to cut away the excess wood from the door hinge. I used our Dewalt Oscillating Multi Tool for that simple little job.

Cut excess wood out from door hinge

Once the wood filler was dry, I sanded everything down with my favorite sander, Dewalt Oscillating Sander. It made quick work of making everything smooth. 

Then it was time for paint! That's the super easy part! At this point, there are 2 coats of primer on.

Prime & painting door

Then 2 coats of paint and let's hang this door. 

Before we get to that, I had to fix the size of the door hole. Apparently, older door knobs were much smaller. We had to do this same thing to our front door.

Anyway, this Ryobi Door Hole Saw Kit, is a lifesaver! It's super hard to 're cut' holes without some sort of guide to keep the hole saw in the correct placement. 

Fixing Door hole size

Yay! It's all done! I picked up this black door knob on Amazon. 

New door knob installed

I had a question asked about the thickness of the door. Here you can see the underlayment added, but it's only slightly noticeable.  I just sanded the sides and painted.

Thickness of door

What a difference!! I love how it came out!

Flat Panel Door Makeover

There is just something about this craftsman trim and the door that just makes me smile! 💗

Craftsman Trim and door

Blessings,
Lori

35 comments

  1. Would you mind showing a picture of the side of the door? Wondering how it looks being thicker and with raw edges on edge-how can you conceal those? thanks!

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    2. Great question! I sanded the edges and just painted it. You can see the that underlayment was added, but it is only slightly noticeable. I've added a photo so you can see.
      Thanks for reading!

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  2. Did you have to move the door stops since the door thickness chaged?

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    1. Yes! I did. They were simple to remove. Close the door and reattach. Great question!

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    2. The removal & replacement of the stops is certainly not going to be simple in all cases. You're likely working with an older door where the frame may have multiple coats of paint. Good luck prying off the stops without causing damage to woodwork & paint finish!

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    3. We've actually done this with newer and older doors. There is a process and requires patience to remove the door stops. Some of them didn't remove so well, we just purchased new ones. Door stop isn't that expensive. So for us we've had great success!

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  3. How thick was the underlayment you used, anyone know?

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    1. Great question! The underlayment is just about 1/4" thick. I buy it in big 4'x8' sheets and cut it to size.

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  4. It seems that if you thickened the door, it wouldn't fit back in right and the latch wouldn't catch. How did this thicker door get reinstalled so well with what looks like hardly any issues?

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    1. Great question! We took off the door stop which is the piece of trim in the doorway that stops the door. Then reinstalled it to adjust for the thickness of the door. There was a little play in the latch and we slightly moved that. It was amazing how it all worked out!

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  5. What door handles did you use with thicker door?

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    1. The door handles were just from Amazon. They weren't special. You may have to adjust the hole where the door latches closed.

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    2. With the trim added, my doors are now about 1 7/8 and all.of th replacement knobs i see on Amazon or in hardware stores say they fit "1 3/8" to 1 3/4" thick doors." Wad that the size you bought and were still able to fit the thicker door? I'm worried I'll buy all new hands (not cheap!) and not be able to fit them to the door. :(

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    3. Hmmm... interesting. We didn't have any problem putting doorknobs back on. I never even thought of measuring them. Just put them on. Have you tried putting the old ones back on, just to see? Also, my doors were original to the house built in 1960.

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  6. These look amazing! Can I ask how many doors you could get out of one sheet of plywood?

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    1. Hi Jilli! Well, I'm not too sure, definitely more than one door, if not 2 or 3! I have the whole house to do yet. However, I'm knee deep in a kitchen remodel. We'll eventually get to the rest of them.

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  7. Do you remember how long this took you and how much the materials cost? It looks really good!

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    1. Thank you!! Hmmm... well, it doesn't really take long, maybe a day or two. It's just the process of cutting the wood... gluing/nailing/drying. Then painting. The sheet of underlayment is about $22, and I could definitely get more than one door out of it. Plus glue, and paint. So much cheaper than buying a paneled door!

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  8. Do you adjust the width of the underlayment based on the door width?

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    1. We adjusted the door stop on the door frame to accommodate the added underlayment. It thickened the door.

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    2. How did you accomplish the door stop adjustment? Did you have to take it off, or were you able to cut it in place somehow?

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    3. Yes, we took the door stop off and readjusted it. If the original didn't come off very easily, we just replaced it. Door stop is pretty cheap to replace.

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  9. Did you do this treatment to both sides of the door or just the exterior?

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    1. I sure did! I love this door! I just have about 4 more to do...

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  10. I have several doors, all different sizes. Some are 32” and go all the way down to 24”. How should I adjust the underlayment sizes for smaller doors?

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    1. You will just have to cut them separate. I would keep the same over all size, just cut the middle pieces shorter to fit.

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  11. I love it! What paint did you use for the door?

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    1. Thanks! I used the same paint that I'm using on all of the trim in the house. It's nothing fancy but the plain white off the shelf in Behr Marquee Satin. Super simple! Thanks for stopping by!

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  12. I love this and have considered something similar in my 1961 home. I was concerned about the underlayment on both sides, but it looks like you were able to work around that. Well done!

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    1. Thanks so much! It really adds a little character to the plain doors. I have many more to do....

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  13. Love this and plan on doing it in my home. Wanted to ask, what is the amount of space from the bottom piece to the middle piece and from the middle piece to the top? If that makes sense.

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    1. Awesome! Sorry it took me so long to get to this question! It is 22" from the bottom piece to the middle and 38" from the middle piece to the top. Hope that helps!!

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  14. This is a perfect solution for 8 sets of bifolds in our park model home. We’re trying to avoid heavy doors so facing a hollow core door is the answer. Did you spray the primer and paint, brush on or roll on? I’ll be looking forward to your answer! Nice work!

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    1. I usually roll primer and paint. I find it easier, unless I have multiple doors to do. Then I would use my sprayer. Hoping the project comes out great!!

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