I just bought a house! That’s why you haven’t heard from me lately 🙂 The good news is that this will usher in a whole new set of projects for me to explore. One of the first things I noticed in my new home were the door knobs and escutcheons. They had pretty scroll patterns and were paired with nice, hefty door knobs. I wanted to continue to use them in the house but they had been covered by layers upon layers of paint over the past decades. I decided my inaugural touch on my home would be to refinish the old door hardware.
Removing the Hardware
My first task was getting the hardware off of the doors. The series of previous owners had placed at least 5 layers of paint over it; sealing the escutcheons to the door. I used a utility blade to carefully slice along the outside so that the escutcheon could be removed without disturbing too much of the remaining paint. Once I excavate the screws and pried the hardware off, I put all of the screws in labeled bags so I knew where they came from. The screws were a variety of styles/lengths and I wanted to make sure they would easily fit back into place.
Cleaning the Hardware
To clean the knobs, escutcheons, and screws, I followed a tutorial from This Old House. It was very simple and worked like a charm. After boiling the metal in water and soap, most of the paint slipped right off. I used a stock pot specifically designated for non-food related activities to do this.
After the boiling/peeling process, I gave them a nice vinegar bath and a good scrub with steel wool to remove any remaining paint.
Painting the Hardware
Now to decide what to do with them! They looked to be cast aluminum if I had to guess, and while I did like the look of the bare metal, I wanted a more significant contrast against the white doors. Furthermore, I needed a way to protect the metal. There was some minor corrosion that I felt could get worse over time – especially in the bathroom. In the end I chose a dark, metallic paint by Rust-oleum along with a primer and top coat. I couldn’t find a black primer in my hardware store and didn’t want to wait, so I just went with the white.
The knobs were prepared for painting by my stuffing the screw holes with pieces of toilet paper. I didn’t want the spray paint to gum-up the threads and make reassembly difficult.
The rest was simple. I sprayed on a few coats of the primer, followed by the dark paint, followed by the clear enamel. I also painted the tops of all the screws.
Replacing the Hardware
Because I had labeled all the screws, the door hardware went back on without any problems. The only thing worth mentioning was that the paint in some areas around the escutcheons came up when I was removing the hardware. I will need to touch up the door with some white trim paint in those areas.
Final Thoughts
There are definitely some things I would do differently if I had to do it over.
- I would wait to find a black primer. It took many coats of the metallic paint to completely cover the white primer. Had I used black, I would have avoided quite a bit of stress making sure all areas of the weirdly shaped knobs were covered.
- I would skip the top coat. While I am happy I added some additional protection, the glossy look takes away from the cast-iron like effect I was going for.
Overall I am happy with my attempt to refinish old door hardware! I did have movers in and the finish on one knob took quite a hit and chipped so I will be fixing that. Otherwise, I suspect they will hold up to normal household wear pretty well.
