Hi @CarlAli13 ,
I’ve done so many of these Shaker trim doors now, I’m very happy to answer your questions. I did my laundry a few years ago, so I’ll just tell you how I’m doing the doors now, having learnt the easy way as I’ve gone on. You can certainly nail and glue, but nailing isn’t necessary at all, and creates more work. Once you nail (hand or gun), you then have to punch the nails, fill the holes, sand the filler, prime the filler, then paint. Keep it simple, and just use glue. My go to is Liquid Nails. I guess PVA glue would also work, but there’s no need for specialist glues.
What I do is prep, prime and paint the door panels and trim first, prior to gluing the trim down. Cut your trim to size, sand it smooth, prime, sand, and then topcoats. Dry fit everything before using any glue. Dot Liquid Nails on the backs of the trim and position in place. I have used clamps to hold down the trim, but anything weighty will do, just make sure you evenly space the weights to hold the trim down. If I’m doing a lot of doors at once, I just grab tins of food from the pantry, evenly space them over the first door, then continue to stack more doors on top, using more tins as I go. Leave them weighed down for a few hours, then fill any gaps with a sandable, paintable filler. You’ll probably have to do one final topcoat but this is definitely the easier way.
Regarding paint, for areas like kitchens, laundries and bathrooms using gloss paints is best. You can go to the extreme of using expensive specialty paints, which adhere well to gloss surfaces, but I’ve had absolutely fantastic results using a product called ESP (Easy Surface Preparation). It creates an etched adhesion between slick, glossy surfaces and your new primer. I’ve even used this product to paint over mirrored wardrobe doors, in a very well-used bedroom, and after 8 years there is still not even one scratch on the doors. It’s my go-to for all this sort of work. My method for painting gloss surfaces goes like this:
1. Wash the factory surface using Sugar Soap and a Scotchbrite scourer. This will lightly etch the surface so primer adheres better.
2. Using ESP, wipe on and off as per instructions. Wait 90 minutes (as per instructions).
3. Prime with Zinsser BIN, once if you’re covering a light base, twice if you’re covering a dark. Very lightly sand smooth if needed.
4. Top coat with Taubmans Water Based Enamel in gloss or semi gloss. Depending on your original colour, you may have to do a few coats. I usually do two, if the original was white, but three otherwise.
If you’re intending rolling the paint, use a 4mm microfibre roller as it will give you the finest finish. Buy the 100mm wide rollers as they’ll make it easier. My last doors I used the method where you roll the door and then immediately, very lightly brush the paint using long, even strokes. I love the look of the paint brush strokes, so this appeals to me more than the slight roller texture. Spraying, of course will give you a much more professional look, and you can probably hire the spray gun from Bunnings, I imagine.
I hope this has helped. 😊
