Sooner or later, any door material wears out and you have to either replace the door leaf itself or reupholster it. Some people believe that metal doors last forever, but this is not true. Even a metal door under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and precipitation loses its attractiveness over time, and wooden structures even faster. Therefore, the only sure way to restore attractiveness is to replace the trim. In our article we will tell you how to upholster the front door with dermantine step by step and with photos.
Selecting upholstery material
It is not enough to sheathe the door correctly; it is important to competently choose a material such as dermantin, which is also commonly called vinyl artificial leather, granitol, eco-leather, etc.
On the market you can buy dermantine in its various modifications, that is, differing in texture, shades and other properties. Upholstery of the front door with genuine leather or dermantine is carried out using the same technology and regardless of whether the metal or wooden structure will be decorated.
Finishing process
Almost any material used to finish the door leaf can be installed independently. To do this, you will need some tools and preliminary preparation of the door surface.
Preparatory work
The outer leaf of the entrance door is prepared for finishing, regardless of the chosen material, according to one scheme.
How to prepare the door:
- Remove it from its hinges. Place it on a flat surface, for example, on stools, to make it convenient to work.
- Remove the fittings from the door - peephole, lock, handles.
- Clean the canvas from dirt, grease, etc. If necessary, wash the surface with detergents - select them taking into account the material. Remove mold and mildew from wood, if any, and rust from metal.
- Apply an antiseptic or moisture-proofing agent to the canvas.
One or two days before the start of work, unroll the finishing material - leatherette, eco-leather, film. This is necessary to smooth out the wrinkles. Naturally, this does not apply to hard materials - slabs, plywood, panels.
Tools
There is no universal set of tools for all finishing options. In each case, you have to select them taking into account the specifics of the work, the door material and upholstery.
In any case, to do door upholstery, you will need a standard set of tools:
- for cutting material - a hacksaw, scissors;
- for measuring - a square and a tape measure;
- for fastening - nails (simple and decorative), self-tapping screws, liquid nails or epoxy glue;
- tool for mechanical fastening - hammer;
- tools for applying paint and varnish - roller and brushes.
This is a basic set, which is supplemented depending on the specifics of the work. Additionally, you will need tools to dismantle the fittings - screwdrivers, pliers. To ensure that all work is carried out accurately and accurately, also prepare a marker or construction pencil.
To speed up the work on door upholstery, professional tools will come in handy, for example, a furniture stapler, a screwdriver or a drill with a special attachment.
Stages of work
The process begins with finishing the ends. They need to be painted - usually they choose paint to match the upholstery material. If the door is supposed to be sheathed on both sides, then the ends are trimmed with strips of upholstery.
Sheathing stages:
- Installation of insulation. It is secured with liquid nails. Or use a furniture stapler. The insulation can be fixed directly to the canvas or to a wooden sheathing.
- Sheathing. After installing the insulating material on the door leaf, upholstery material is installed - lining, panels or other.
- Installation of accessories. Using tools, handles are screwed on and other fittings are installed.
To facilitate the installation process, it is recommended to first mark the nail locations with a marker/pencil.
Advantages and disadvantages of the material
A material such as dermantin surpasses even natural leather in its performance and its advantages include:
- Affordability;
- Resistant to rotting, blooming and moisture penetration;
- Durability in use;
- Operating temperature ranges from – 40 to +60 degrees;
- Duration of operation more than 20 years;
- Has excellent sound and heat insulation qualities;
- UV resistant;
- Large selection of colors;
- Easy to care for.
Despite all the advantages, there are some disadvantages:
- In case of a cut of the dermantine or mechanical damage, a complete replacement of the coating is necessary;
- Regardless of the type, the material belongs to the G2 flammability group.
These disadvantages are not critical and, given the large number of advantages, can be considered insignificant.
Door Trim Tools
If you prepare all the tools and follow the upholstery recommendations, you can perform this procedure yourself. In order to decorate the door, you need to prepare the following tools:
- Thin sheet foam rubber or isolon for insulating the structure;
- Dermantin in a roll;
- Decorative nails (if a wooden structure will be upholstered) or self-tapping screws (for upholstering metal doors);
- Ruler, pencil;
- Brush and polymer glue;
- Hammer;
- Scissors and knife;
- Thin braided brass wire;
- Stapler for furniture.
Also, if screws are screwed in, you will need a screwdriver.
Preparatory stage
Before upholstering a metal or wooden entrance door with leatherette with your own hands, it is necessary to dismantle it, because if the structure hangs on hinges, this will not be possible.
The canvas is removed and placed on any base, preferably four stools. All fittings, trim (if any), and locks are removed.
It is worth carefully inspecting the canvas and if there are signs of rot or blooming, then it is necessary to take appropriate measures and treat the canvas with a special sealant.
Attaching the insulation
Here people's opinions differ - some believe that insulation is not needed, others are inclined to believe that it is still necessary. But experts say that insulation, even of small thickness, is still needed. It will act as a substrate on which it will be much easier to attach dermantine, and you can completely eliminate the appearance of wrinkles on the upholstery over time.
The insulation is secured using glue or staples. There is nothing complicated about this, the main thing is that there is a gap of 1 cm around the perimeter of the canvas between the edges and the insulation.
Manufacturing and installation of the roller
To make door upholstery with dermantine look aesthetically pleasing, you need to make rollers, photos of which are below. To do this, you will need strips of dermantine with a width of 100 to 150 mm. It is not necessary to purchase them additionally; you can use the scraps that are left after cutting the main material. As for the length of the rollers, it should be a little longer in order to form beautiful overlaps at the corners of the canvas.
The prepared strips are attached to the edges of the outer fabric using glue or self-tapping screws, insulation is placed on top and covered with dermantine. You can connect the seams using polymer glue, which dries quickly. After the roller is attached, it should protrude beyond the edges of the canvas by no more than 3 cm.
What to consider when attaching the upholstery?
- When finishing the canvas with insulation, its edges along the perimeter of the door are folded in order to increase the strength of the dermantine in the places where it is fastened with nails;
- The dermantine on the rollers needs to be slightly tucked, that is, overlapped;
- Its fixation on the canvas should begin from the top, gradually descending to the bottom, while checking the correct installation of the upholstery. If a slight distortion occurs, it is not difficult to eliminate it;
- At the bottom of the canvas, rigid fixation is made after air is removed.
How to insulate a wooden door in a private house or apartment
The standard set of materials for door insulation includes three components:
- insulation;
- seal;
- decorative materials for finishing: dermantin, artificial leather, thick fabric.
You can buy a ready-made kit for insulating the front door (cost from 490 rubles). This set consists of dermantine, foam rubber, rollers for decorating the door, tapes for securing the dermantine around the perimeter and center of the canvas, nails with decorative caps and a sealant.
But, as the masters advise, you can select the necessary materials for the work yourself, i.e. buy separately. It will be, if not cheaper, then better in quality.
- foam rubber
(45-900 rubles/sq.m.) Due to the fact that the door leaf of a wooden door is solid, insulation is done on top of it. For this purpose, soft insulation materials that can hold their shape well are best suited. Door insulation with foam rubber is justified by the low price of the material, availability, and ease of installation. It also makes it possible to choose the desired thickness, because... Available in a thickness range from 3 to 100 mm. To insulate a wooden door, foam rubber up to 30 mm thick is used.
- isolon
(thickness from 2 to 20 mm). Available in two types: foil (price - 150-270 rubles/sq.m.) and regular (70-80 rubles/sq.m.). The advantage of isolon is the thin thickness of the material, which ensures excellent thermal insulation of wooden doors without significantly increasing their dimensions.
- batting, synthetic padding, felt
. These materials can also be used as insulation materials, but they are rarely used;
- mineral wool
(price 70-250 rubles/sq.m.) Serves as an excellent insulation material, but the thickness of the mineral wool increases the dimensions of the door, which does not make it a good alternative to foam rubber;
- polystyrene foam
(from 2500 rub./m3). Rigid insulation, used for external insulation of the door. Installing foam plastic requires the manufacture of a frame and the use of rigid decorative material (for the covering panel), which entails an increase in the thickness and weight of the door and the replacement of hinges. And in terms of thermal insulation properties, the foam on the door is similar to foam rubber with dermantine upholstery.
Calculation of the amount of material for insulating a wooden door
- insulation. The area of the insulation is equal to the area of the door leaf. As for the thickness, it should not interfere with the opening of the door. Users recommend using 30 mm thick insulation. It performs its functions well and can be securely fastened with nails;
- seal. The quantity is equal to the perimeter of the door frame;
- upholstery. The length and width of the door plus 300 mm of margin on the top and side.
Note. The amount of reserve depends on the height of the thermal insulation material.
Standard upholstery technology
Do-it-yourself door upholstery with dermantine for metal and wood has its own differences that are worth understanding.
In order to finish a wooden panel, it is necessary to lay insulation between the already filled and prepared rollers. Attach it with glue or a stapler.
Unfold the dermantine and tuck it around the perimeter so that it fits under the rollers.
Now you can start attaching it with decorative nails along one long side of the canvas. The fastening pitch is 100 -120 mm. After this, hammer nails in at the top and bottom of the canvas, and then along the remaining edge.
Once the dermantine is attached, you can start cutting out holes for attaching all the fittings. It's quite easy to find these places.
If the door is metal, then hammering nails will not be possible, so special self-tapping screws are needed, which are screwed in with a screwdriver, but they must be screwed in according to a pre-marked and drawn up diagram of the wire clamping decor.
Carriage upholstery method
This method involves covering doors with dermantine and laying insulation with your own hands on a sheet of plywood, the dimensions of which fully correspond to the dimensions of the door leaf.
Holes are drilled on a sheet of plywood according to the already outlined pattern. These can be diamonds, squares and other options. After this, the insulation is attached to the sheet of plywood with glue and, using a crown, holes are made in the soft material that are the same size as the grooves on the plywood.
Next, the dermantine is sewn on using brass wire, which is passed through a sheet of plywood and pulled together. And the plywood sheet itself is attached to the canvas using long self-tapping screws.
Decoration options
In any case, the canvas is decorated on the surface of the dermantine and the choice of decorating elements is very large. This can be wire, cord or decorative nails.
Before you start decorating, you need to make markings, driving small nails into 1/3 of the points. A wire or cord is pulled over them, and only then are the nails driven in completely. By tensioning the wire or cord, a relief pattern is created.
General description of new leatherette fabrics
The classic definition of leatherette says that it is a rolled material based on woven fabric made from cotton thread, on the surface of which a layer of colored nitrocellulose is applied. Material manufacturers took into account previous shortcomings and decided to replace the woven base with a porous polyvinyl chloride film.
The surface began to be covered with polyester, polyurethane or a mixture of leather fibers and latex crumbs. In the first two cases, the new dermantins were called eco-leather, and in the last version, using a mixture, they were called recycled leather.
As a result, practically new materials were obtained, which differ:
Exploitation
After upholstering an entrance metal or wooden door with dermantine with your own hands is completed, you should familiarize yourself with the basic rules for its further operation:
- Clean the surface with a soap solution. You can also use other chemicals, but to make sure that they will not cause a change in the color of the upholstery, you should experiment on a small piece of material;
- If over time the upholstery becomes abraded or the color has faded, the material can be tinted, the main thing is to guess the color shade. To do this, you need to contact a specialized workshop and bring a small trim so that the master can select the appropriate paint;
- The modern material produced is very strong and durable in use, so it does not require any additional care. The only thing that needs to be done is to periodically clean it from dust and dirt.
Some nuances when working with dermantine
When working with artificial leather, two emergency situations often arise:
- due to long or improper storage in rolls, the material is wrinkled and does not straighten when stretched - the folds are clearly visible;
- During use, paint abrasions appear in some places.
Problems can be easily resolved:
- You can smooth leatherette either using a wet cloth, for example, a sheet (placed on the unfolded outer piece of leatherette), or with hot steam from an iron. In the first case, as the draped fabric dries, the leatherette straightens, in the second, the steam immediately smoothes the surface of the artificial leather. The main thing is to steam from the reverse (wrong) side and under no circumstances touch the material with a hot iron.
- Local abrasions are restored with acrylic paints for leather and leather substitutes. The main problem: choosing a color. You can try to do this yourself by mixing different paints on a palette until you get the desired color, or you can ask the paint seller to use a computer program to select paints. But for this you need to provide a paint sample. You can get it from the door by cutting off a piece of folded dermantine. Thrifty owners will always have a sample in a secluded place.
If the selection fails, then the entire surface of the doors is repainted. Before painting, the upholstery is washed and degreased with alcohol or vodka. It is best to paint with a foam sponge. After the first layer has dried, apply the second.
