Painting new front door cutouts

[surreywill]

Hi,

Hope someone can give me some advice I've so far not managed to find elsewhere in books or internet.

I'm currently going about installing a new solid wood front door.
Everything is going swimmingly so far, it's trimmed to fit the frame, all the cut-outs have been drilled and I've primed every inch of exposed surface, including inside the cut-outs. Paint has been selected and purchased, both basecoat and topcoat.

My question is, do I also need to put all basecoat and topcoats inside every single cut-out? I appreciate that for things like the letter flap this is necessary to maintain the style of the door, but in particular I'm thinking about cut-outs for the night-latch cylinder and also for the mortise lock.

It took quite a long time with the old chisel to get the mortise lock cut-out large enough to take the lock, and it's pretty tight in there. My concern is that by addition of a few more coats of paint it won't fit any more. Should I have made the cut-out intentionally have a couple of millimetres play for this purpose? If so, I guess I need to take some more off and re-prime that.
Similarly, do I put all coats behind hinges, etc.? If so, won't that make them slightly out of flush too?

Many thanks.

SurreyWill.

 

[JohnD]

the mortice for a mortice lock is not normally painted.

It wouldn't hurt to splash a bit of wood preserver in there though, as bare wooden surfaces are prone to attack.

It is common to paint the recess for the fore-end, the staple and the hinges though, as they are likely to show a bit if you don't. Make sure it is deep enough that the thickness of paint will not prevent them seating again.

Take special care to paint the top and bottom of the door. These are a bit tricky once hung, so often neglected, but this is where damp and worm are most likely to get in.

If you can use lift-off hinges they will make future painting and maintenance much easier.

If you get your chisels very very sharp you will find it easier to shave the width of the mortice to size. No hammer needed, once it is deep enough.

 

[surreywill]

Many thanks JohnD for the swift reply.
I shall do exactly as you suggest.

BTW chisels are very sharp, but sadly it's my chiselling skills that need honing - as it were.

Many thanks,

SurreyWill.