[jmiza]

Hello all,

As I have mentioned in an introductory post, I am a complete DIY newbie who can barely tell a screwdriver from a hammer. As a 31-year old male, I need to change this!

I work at a family bar, and to keep myself occupied during downtime (things have been slow lately) I would like to fix up a few things. I may be a bit dumb but am eager to learn!

We have a kitchen door that needs some work. It is a swinging door and by function all is well. But it is quite the eyesore. The bottom is heavily caked in gunk and paint is rubbed off where we generally make contact with the door to push it. I have attached a photo.

We also have cabinet doors. These are in the kitchen near the fryers. As you may expect, after over a decade they are pretty gross; grease has accumulated as you can tell in the second photo.

I would like to take these doors off (both swinging and cabinet) and I'm guessing I should sand them (rid of all the paint, gunk, etc). I do not know what type of sander I would be looking to use. A handyman customer I asked recommended a palm orbital sander. I have no clue what that is, but wanted to know if that would be the route to take. I once used a belt sander to grind down our kitchen's cutting board and to clean our stainless steel stovetop which had accumulated heavy gunk. It worked well for those purposes...but not sure if a belt sander should be used in these scenarios.

After sanding, how do I clean the wooden doors of all the dust? Just a quick wipe/brush job?

Another question--how should I finish the doors? Sealer? Paint? I really don't know what a primer is...or what a sealer is either. What would work best for a greasy environ that WILL get dirty again? What can easy be cleaned/maintained?

Thank you all for reading my post. I know this is all basic stuff that everyone should know, but I have no clue!

 

[oh'mike]

This is what you want---velcro holds the paper---works fast---

Sand---dust it off--then use a 'tack cloth' (stick cheese cloth-available in the paint section )

Start with a course grit---50 or 80---when the paint is gone--go to 150 grit.---

I'll leave the paint and primer for a painter to suggest----the greasy hands are rough on paint and a pro painter should know od a good tough paint---

 

[joecaption]

I agree on the type of sander, but do not start sanding until all the grease is cleaned off or you will just be grinding it into the surface.
Use TSP to clean it first. READ ALL THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE USING!

A palm sander would take far to long, there fine for finish sanding, but little else.

 

[bbo]

and I'd install kick plates and push plates on the swinging doors.

much easier to clean.

 

[jmiza]

Thanks a bunch, fellas.

So it looks like I will be getting a random orbital sander! Thanks for the info on the sandpaper grits I will be needing, the TSP recommendation, and the idea for push and kick plates. I had thought of a push plate but hadn't thought of the kick.

Any suggestions for how best to sand the square "trim" around the glass on the door?

 

[oh'mike]

Same grit paper--Just use your hand---all of the paint does not need to be removed --just smooth it out enough to get a good surface for the new paint---

 

[jmiza]

Just curious...would an oscillating multi-tool be able to get the job done, too? Searching fir tools online, it seems that they are wildly popular.

 

[huesmann]

I would just replace the cabinet doors in their entirety. They look pretty simple; looks like just cutting some ply down to size. Much less aggravation than stripping paint.

 

[jmiza]

Huesmann---I see your point now that the project is underway. Stripping paint is no easy task. Plenty of aggravation on what I thought would be a relatively easy step. I've removed the paint on one door and sanded it down. Getting ready for a nice cleaning then primer. I'm guessing paint removal will be the hardest part of this project!