How To Refresh Hollow Core Doors!

I think every house I moved into had a brown hollow core door. Sometimes they’re in neat shape and sometimes they’re spliced ​​(and split) in places so you can really see how thin and cheap the wood veneer is.

Once you start researching how much new / nicer doors are, it becomes clear (for the budget-conscious buyer anyway) that the budget-friendly thing is to renovate the doors you have and completely freshen them up!

This also saves you from hanging all of the new doors, which can also be a frustrating project. As I’ve done a couple of times now, I’ll show you my process for freshening up hollow core doors and turning them from lousy to cute!

Deliveries:

–Wood spatula and spatula
-Sandpaper (medium and fine grain)
– primer that is also a stain blocker (like this one)
-Semi-gloss lacquer in your choice of color
-Hinges in your metal preference (I used these)
– Doorknob kit of your choice (I used this one, but you can see trending hardware options for all budgets here!)
– semicircular molding or molding of your choice

1.) Repair any splinters / cracks:

With hollow core doors, it’s not uncommon for the bottom of the door to chip and leave some uneven surfaces. The best way to fix this is to get some wooden putty knife and a putty knife to fill in the chipped areas.

Apply a layer of wood putty slightly higher than the surface of the door so you can sand it to a flat surface after it dries.

2.) Paint the door:

The color and tone of the wood of a hollow core door are always a sign that it is a cheap door. So painting it can hide the splinter areas you just repaired and make it look like it could be a solid panel door.

I like sanding the door with a medium-sized sandpaper to roughen the surface. Don’t skimp on sanding – the paint won’t stick to the door either if you don’t really roughen the shiny surface enough. Then apply a coat or two of a stain-blocking primer to keep the wood stains from bleeding through.

If you’re painting the doors a dark color, you can probably get by with one paint / primer all in one instead of separate paints. Then use a satin finish in the color of your choice (mostly I know) to freshen up your door with a low pile roller for smooth surfaces.

3.) Replace the hinges:

Often an older hollow core door also has older hinges, which could use an exchange for something nicer and newer. Our doors had really chunky heavy hinges intended for exterior doors (very heavy duty) and they were also rusty and splattered with multiple colors of previous paintwork paints.

A pack of sleek modern hinges can go a long way in modernizing a door and making the whole thing look refreshed (you’ll need this if your hinge cutouts are rounded).

4.) Change door fittings:

Now this is the final step in making your door rejuvenation a real success! Purchasing a sleek modern door hardware will be a big leap forward for your hollow core door project.

I wanted to spend a little more on the hardware to make the end result feel really more luxurious (and since we saved so much on renovating the doors it was possible) so I bought this one. It has a 5 year finish guarantee on the finish color I want (a nice thing for brass hardware).

If you want to save all around, there are cheaper options that are similar and would be nice too!

5.) Add some custom trim (optional but amazing !!)

Now that you have a repaired door with a fresh paint job and new hardware, you can finish it off and admire your new door OR you can go a step further and make the door extra special with some custom trim.

I’ve made some basic doors a lot more special with wood paneling or wood cutout designs, but in this house I’ve added a domed semicircular panel design to the back and all main interior doors with flexible moldings and I just LOVE how the doors feel so much more luxurious and individual.

Want to see more door DIY ideas? Cashbox …

Looking for new hardware? Check out our trending hardware favorites for every budget!

As a side note, especially if you have older doors, you may need to drill a larger hole to fit the current standard door hardware sizes, and a jig like this will be extremely helpful for that!

The doors that were added later in the life of the house were updated to the standard hole sizes, but all of the doors in the main hallway of our ’60s house had bolt holes smaller than we needed so the template was handy to update those holes to allow the hardware fits properly.

Here we go! You can see that we have also updated the door trim around the doors as we had the baseboards and flooring replaced, and that also helps make the entire doorway look more modern.

Hope this has shown you that hollow core doors don’t need to be removed to transform your home into a more modern and updated space! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman.

How to upgrade hollow core doors

The best ways to renew hollow core doors

1. Repairing splinters and cracks: With hollow core doors it is not uncommon for the underside of the door to splinter and leave uneven surfaces. The best way to fix this is to get some wooden putty knife and a putty knife to fill in the chipped areas. Apply a layer of wood putty slightly higher than the surface of the door so you can sand it to a flat surface after it dries.

2. Painting the door: the color and tone of the wood of a hollow core door are always a sign that it is a cheap door. I like to lightly sand the door with medium sized sandpaper to roughen the surface, then apply a coat or two of a stain-blocking primer so the wood stains don’t bleed through (if you’re painting the doors a dark color, you can probably do this ) come through with a paint / primer in one and not in separate layers). Then use a satin finish in the color of your choice (mostly I know) to freshen up your door with a low pile roll for smooth surfaces.

3. Replace the hinges: Often an older hollow core door also has older hinges that could use a replacement for something nicer and newer. Our doors had really chunky heavy hinges intended for exterior doors (very heavy duty) and they were also rusty and splattered with multiple colors of previous paintwork paints. A pack of sleek modern hinges can go a long way in modernizing a door and making the whole thing look refreshed (you’ll need this if your hinge cutouts are rounded).

4. Change the door hardware: now this is the final step in making your door rejuvenation a real success! Purchasing a sleek modern door hardware will be a big leap forward for your hollow core door project. I wanted to spend a little more on the hardware to make the end result feel really more luxurious (and since we saved so much on renovating the doors it was possible) so I bought this one that has a 5 year finish guarantee on the finish color you want (a nice thing for brass hardware) and here is a pretty budget friendly option too. If you want to save all around, there are cheaper options that are similar and would be nice too!

5. Add a few custom moldings: now that you have a repaired door with a fresh paint job and new hardware, you can quit and admire your new door, OR you can go a step further and complete the door with some Make custom accessories special. I’ve made some basic doors a lot more special with wood paneling or wood cutout designs, but in this house I’ve added a domed semicircular panel design to the back and all main interior doors with flexible moldings and I just LOVE how the doors feel so much more luxurious and individual.