DIY: Refinish Door Knobs

Where was the post yesterday??? Well - good news over here is that we have been getting lots of showings! (Dana here by the way). We had 2 within the hour of listing the house (the hubs thinks it was mostly due to the holiday), one on Wednesday, then 2 more yesterday. We have one for today and one already for tomorrow. Yesterday's showings were from 12-4, so we weren't home and I was no where near a computer to blog for you all. Sad, I know! But most of my Thursday musings were related to feedback on the house, the lack of plans of the venue, and the idea that we are going to be packing soon! EEK!

But on to today! I refinished our door knobs a few weeks ago and I am pleasantly surprised by them! They seem to be doing great. I do not have a ton of pictures, but I can give you a step by step..

Materials:

Steps:
1. Take off all hardware from the doors - Knobs, hinges, and plates

2. Clean hardware with a damp rag and dry.

3. Sand! Now this is slightly scary as when you start sanding you think you have ruined your handles. Have no fear! You have not ruined them. Keep sanding in all different directions until you have them roughed up pretty good. 

4. Use the deglosser to clean off the sanded knobs and hardware

5. Wait until dry then apply thin even coats of primer. Apply in even sweeps. Your knobs should be white.

6. Let dry for 1-2 hours. I did this in the winter, it took time to dry. In the summer it may not take quite as long. 

7. Apply an even coat of the bronze paint. Wait 20 minutes between coats. The first coat should look speckled and then the hardware will look more covered with each coat. I did about 4 coats. Make sure you get underneath the knobs as well! 

8. Let sit for at least 12 hours before putting back on the doors. 

A few helpful hints..
Styrofoam is awesome - it cut my time in half because I could keep them all upright. a Cardboard box will also work!
Put a tarp or newspaper down - paint gets everywhere. I also wore gloves so I could hold the foam in different angles

Make sure you spray your screws too! These did not get sanded or primed - I just sprayed  them 


Hinges all done (don't you love the sippy cup top next to it!) Spray both sides. These take longer because you have to let one side dry completely before painting the other


All done! Such a difference!!
There you go! Based on a lot of other tutorials - it looks like I went overboard. The Oil rubbed Bronze paint already has primer in it. Some tell you to just degloss and not sand, and vice versa. We use these knobs every day a million times a day and some of us have sticky peanut butter fingers. I needed something that would hold up. I think I made the right choice based on my results - but maybe ask me in a few months. Good luck and let me know if you do this project and you have any hints to add!

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