How to Store Your New Internal Doors

Renovation or redecoration projects can be long and drawn out. The space between the purchase of building materials and their installation can stretch out unpredictably. 

It's important to have items on hand for when you need them, so ordering them early is tempting. But delays happen, life gets in the way, and it can end up being days or even a few weeks before you actually get a chance to use them.

This can be a problem when it comes to internal doors. Installing doors is one of the last steps in the redecoration process, so any slight delay will hold up their installation. Yet waiting till the last moment to order them can also cause issues.

The easiest answer is to buy your internal doors early and store them properly until you need them. 

Take note though, storing them correctly is the most vital part of this plan. Any damage your doors take before they are even hung could be irreversible and seriously shorten their life span.

Luckily, it's not hard to store them correctly. Read on and we'll introduce you to a few key things you need to remember to keep your doors looking their best while they’re in storage.

Inspect Your Doors on Delivery

Photo by Stephane YAICH on Unsplash

Our first tip to keep your doors stored perfectly starts the moment they are delivered. 

Despite a delivery company's best efforts, doors can be damaged during delivery. Even with padding, packaging and treating them with the utmost care, accidents can occur and damage can be done.

Many companies aren't able to help with any damage that happens during storage but most will replace doors that are damaged in transit. This means it's important to inspect your doors closely when they arrive.

If you're not planning to store the doors for a particularly long time, remove all their packaging and check the doors for defects. If you are planning to store them indefinitely, remove the outer packaging but leave the polythene wrapper around the door. This will prevent moisture from getting into the timber of the door.

Once you've checked the doors, it’s a good idea to replace as much packaging as is practical before storing, even for a short period.

Storing Your New Internal Doors

If you’re storing your new doors, there are a couple of things you must do to protect them.

Do:

• Keep them stored horizontally
• Store them in their original packaging
• Keep them on a dry/flat floor

Do not:

• Store them vertically – this can cause them to bow
• Keep them in direct sunlight - this could start to bleach the colour out of them as well as expose them to extreme temperatures
• Store them in a room that has fresh plaster, concrete or render in it. This includes recently plastered walls – any excess moisture content in the air of the room will warp the door

Do doors have to be stored flat?

It may be tempting to store doors upright against a wall in order to save space. This should always be avoided where possible though. It is far better to lay the door flat on the ground.

It is important to distribute the weight of the new door over the biggest surface area possible. Storing doors on their edges will lead to a lot of concentrated pressure on the joints of the door. This in turn can lead to the doors warping or breaking.

Laying them on the floor will minimise the strain on small areas of wood so they don’t weaken or break.

How do you store solid core doors?

Despite the impressive strength and stability of engineered wood, you should still store engineered wooden doors flat. If you absolutely have to keep them on their side, make sure they rest horizontally on a long edge - these sides are designed to hold the weight of the door on its hinges when it's installed, so they are in better shape to support them on the floor too.

It is also best to keep them in a dry, dust and dirt-free environment.

How to Treat Your New Internal Door

If you've bought an unfinished door it is best to decide how you're going to treat it before you hang it. 

Unfinished doors always need treating with a preservative or sealant to stop moisture from getting into the timber of the door and warping it.

It is up to you how to treat your doors. A common choice is to paint doors with white gloss paint. This gives a sleek, elegant look to your doors and is versatile enough to suit any door hardware or interior design scheme. A white gloss paint job is also easy to maintain - dirt can easily be cleaned off and you can wash their surface down with sugar soap if they get discoloured.

Another benefit of paint is that you easily revamp the look of your doors. Just remove the door furniture, strip the paint then sand the door surface and you should be able to get a new coat on easily.

For more information about how to paint your doors, please see our specific blog.

Another option is to stain the door. There are plenty of subtle shade variations from the dark drama of mahogany to the light, bright colour of pine you can stain your door to match any interior style.

The main drawback of stains is that they soak deeply into the wood. Though they make an impression when they’re first finished, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to strip the colour out and refinish them.

Finally, you may choose to varnish your door. Varnish allows the natural beauty of your door’s wood grain to come through whilst also offering significant protection. Varnish is available in clear, antique or dark tones with the option of a matt, silk or gloss finish.

Varnish looks great but it does need to be reapplied regularly to keep it looking fresh. It is relatively easy to sand the varnish over should you want to re-varnish from scratch or apply a different finish.

If you need to store a new set of internal doors, however shortly, it’s important to do it properly. Any damage done in this time could have a big impact, and take the shine off all your hard work.

Following our guide will help you protect your doors and make sure they look incredible whenever you hang them.