Door finishes: PU paint, veneer press and laminate

PU paint

Polyurethane paint is a two part coating sprayed in the booth over a primed and sanded face, in several coats with sanding between them, then cured. It gives a hard, even, factory finish that brushed or rolled household paint cannot match, with no brush marks and a consistent sheen across every door in the house. It comes in matt, satin or gloss and in any colour code, so a door can match a kitchen, a wardrobe run or a wall colour exactly. PU is the finish for painted interior doors, grooved and panelled designs where the paint runs cleanly through the detail, and most hidden doors.

Because PU is harder and smoother than the emulsion on a wall, a painted door next to a painted wall in the same colour can show a slight difference in sheen. Where a perfect match matters, on a hidden door especially, we supply the door in primer for your painter to finish with the wall, or paint it in a regular wall paint to your code.

Veneer press

A real wood veneer, usually 0.6 mm or thicker, is pressed onto an engineered core under heat and pressure, then sanded and lacquered. The veneer is matched across the leaf, bookmatched so the grain mirrors across the centre or slip matched so it repeats, and across a pair or a run of doors so the whole set reads as one timber. That continuity is something solid boards cannot give. Oak, walnut, teak and ash are the species we use most, and others are available on request. The lacquer can be clear, stained or tinted, in matt, satin or gloss, and UV stable systems are used for doors that see sun. Our wood types guide compares the species.

Laminate

A high pressure laminate sheet is bonded to the core and the edges are lipped or edge banded. Laminate is the hardest wearing and most economical of the three, resists scratches, knocks and cleaning chemicals, and comes in plain colours, textures and wood prints. It is the right finish for staff areas, utility and service rooms, back of house in restaurants and hotels, and anywhere a door is knocked and cleaned daily. Fire rated doors in hotel corridors are often laminated for this reason.

	PU paint	Veneer press	Laminate
Look	Any colour, flat and even	Real wood grain, matched across doors	Plain, textured or wood print
Feel	Smooth, hard	Timber under a lacquer	Smooth, very hard
Wear	Good, can be touched up	Good, can be re lacquered	Best, resists knocks and chemicals
Sheen	Matt, satin or gloss	Matt, satin or gloss lacquer	As the sheet
Cost	Mid	Mid to high, by species	Lowest
Best for	Painted interiors, grooved and panelled doors, hidden doors	Living and bedroom doors, main doors, feature doors	Service rooms, back of house, hotel corridors

Which finish for which door

Main doors: veneer press in teak or walnut with a UV stable lacquer, or fully solid teak, or a PU paint system in a sheltered porch. Living and bedroom doors: veneer press for grain, PU paint for colour. Hidden doors: PU paint, or primer for site finishing. Bathroom doors: PU paint or veneer press with sealed edges. Service doors: laminate. Fire rated doors: any of the three, since the rating is in the core and the frame.

Samples and matching

The finish is chosen at the drawing stage, with physical samples, before production. For veneer we match the sample to the batch so the doors look like the sample. For PU paint we match to a colour code or a physical swatch. For a house where the doors must match existing joinery, we take the existing finish away and match to it.

Caring for the finish

All three are wiped with a damp cloth and a mild cleaner; no abrasive pads and no solvent cleaners on PU or lacquer. Veneered exterior doors in sun benefit from a re coat of lacquer every few years, which we can do in place. PU paint can be touched up and, if a door is badly damaged, re sprayed in the booth.

See our interior doors and main doors.