Saturday, March 20, 2010

Faux Woodgraining a Front Door

     I intend to try to seperate painting and faux finishing into 2 seperate categories: Not that painting is not also an art... faux painting goes back to the 1500s, hence it is art. Faux is the French word for false. Therefore, when you are using a Faux technique, you are trying to create an illusion of something real. The true Faux techniques are used with Marblizing & Stone, Woodgraining and trompd'oiel (to fool or trick the eye.) I believe gold, silver and copper leafing is also considered faux.
     During the Renaissance, faux techniques were used in places where it wasn't realistic to have the real marble or wood: curved moldings or 40 foot tall columns were good examples of areas perfect for faux techniques. Today the term faux is used generally for some sort of decorative painting; it isn't always a true faux technique but some application on a surface to create something of beauty. There are faux (decorative)techniques where one should use a professional & there are faux (decorative) techniques that one can do-it-yourself. I will try to show you both, leaning more toward do-it-yourself but showing off a little of my art as well. This blog post is a little bit of DIY and a little of my art.

Here are the basic steps again:
1. prep work: sanding, priming, filling holes or repairing damaged areas with wood filler or sometimes drywall mud(spackle) or Chalk

2. Painting a base coat

3. Applying Faux Technique

4. Clear Coats of Varnish: Often but not always apply 1 or 2 clear coats of varnish for protection. Sometimes a wax is also added for extra protection.
     In this situation, the homeowner decided that her front door was beyond the point of stripping and staining, and she had purchased a pine storm door that she wanted to make match the existing door. We discussed several faux woodgraining techniques and colors and came up with a faux mahogany finish that was not too dark but a medium warm tone.
These are the doors before we started the project:



1. prep work: Both doors were sanded with 220 grit sandpaper and both required a primer, which allows all the other paint to stick properly.  The storm door wasn't damaged like the older door and didn't require much repair work. I like to prime my surfaces first because it helps wood filler and caulk to stick properly and then I prime the surface again before I base coat:




     The prep work is my least favorite part of the job, but if not done properly, the finished product will not last and the project looks sloppy. I spend whatever amount of time and energy to prepare the surface for the paint and allow all the necessary dry times required for each product. Dry times are listed on the products labels. With wood, I like to use nonshrinking woodfiller and not caulk because caulk will eventually crack and pop loose. Here I used a Minwax wood filler but Elmers makes a great wood filler as well. And if you are fast and can smooth your wood filler out efficiently and with quality, automoble bondo is the very best and I would recommend bondo for high moisture areas like at the beach and on lakefront property.  
     On this job I had a supervisor named Tucker and he made sure I didn't skip any essential steps.


Once the prep was finished, it was time to paint a base coat. Whenever possible, I try to use acrylic paints: the base coat for this job was a golden tan color.

Now I am ready for my faux woodgraining technique. With this project, I did a two part technique: The first technique was a stipple graining, and then I applied a mahogony grain on top. I had to let the first step dry for a day or overnight and then apply the second. Tucker wasn't sure what to think about me at first but he later was a good friend once he realized I was doing the job the right way, making his adopted Mom and Dad happy. 

The stipple woodgrain:

The next Coat is the Mahogany Woodgrain with 2 coats of an exterior Oil Varnish to add protection:


     I like to use Sherwin-Williams Wood Classics Stains, mixed with several other products to create a beautiful, long-lasting Faux Woodgrain, that holds up even in direct sunlight. By the end of the project Tucker was my friend and the clients had some great things to say as well!
    
    

    "Tom was so patient as I tried to communicate the look that I was trying to achieve on my doors. The color and woodgrain were better than I could have imagined. Job well done!!"
S. Jones Greensboro, NC

You can see other examples of my woodgraining @ http://www.fauxpaintingsystems.com/

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