A door of Douglas fir does not take stain very well, especially after it’s been subjected to six to eight coats of paint over a century or so. I’d already spent months (years, actually) hand-stripping millwork and the existing five-panel doors in my Queen Anne when I developed a passion for Eastlake doors. I began to collect them, with an eye toward placing these beauties in key locations that lacked doors, especially in the primary suite upstairs.
I learned the hard way to remove every bit of paint and shellac from a door before moving to the next step. Old shellac and stain, hardened into crevices, will show if it isn’t
