Before finishing a new french door...

Before
you take on the priming of a new french door, or a framed mirror or window, give some thought to the final look and color.

This tip is of especial value where the installed door or window is likely to be seen up close.

By way
of example... here is a mockup french door (a typical french door will have fifteen lights).

This example
has 96 distinct surfaces, one of which is defined below (3 x 4 x 4 x 2 = 96). An actual french door will have 120 surfaces.

Consider
a cross-section of that rectangle. Today, a newly bought door will have a factory-film of plastic (blue) on the glass, extending beneath the moulding. This saves the glass from damage in transit, and ultimately saves the decorator some masking work. We decorators should always be so lucky.

But
no matter whether a new door is pre-masked or not, if a primer or stain is applied straightaway as an initial step (seen in red), this material will seep into the space between the glass and frame by capillary action to coat the backside of the glass or plastic film.


Look
at what will be the outcome. No matter what further colours are used and applied, that initial colour will always persist. If that colour differs from the final finish coat, this will be noticeable and distracting.

When
viewed through the glass, the initial colour on the opposite side now peeks back at you.

To avoid this...
the new inside surfaces should be coated with a suitably coloured primer or stain.
It takes little time, and even less if you omit the ones below eye-level that are not subject to scrutiny.

Attention to details such as this will put some distance between the better artisan and the mediocre ones.