Front Door Problems Part I

Our front door has kind of a cool look,

but it is not original to our house.
It has a sludgy mold on the exterior that I knew I would have to tackle if we kept it.

It has never fit the opening well,

and lately (with humidity) the entire thing has warped.

The doorknob is so close to the casing that it actually touches.

And now, we actually can't get it open because of the warpage.

Stick a fork in us.
 We are done.

So we cruised craig's list and facebook marketplace,

and came up with a door that we thought fit the look of our house

(looks great with our windows.)

Only $80.

But did you think it was going to be that easy?

No, no, no. Of course not.

First of all, the finish on one side was all scratched up,

and if I was going to refinish it - now was the time.

 LOTS of sanding.  With the orbital sander, and by hand.
Then staining with a dark walnut stain to obtain the deep color I wanted.
(Two coats of this, and spots with a third application).
A thin coat of polyshade -- brush on and immediately wipe off.
Then a regular final coat of polyshade (brushed on and not wiped off).
(Time for each step to completely dry, and trying not to work on
days above 90 degrees made all of this this long and drawn out.)
😠
I hated it.  The final coat was all streaky --
probably would have been fine if I had done another thin coat of polyshade instead.
Argh.
Wait for the frustration and heat to subside.

More sanding.  First by hand -- not quite enough poly removal.
Then with orbital sander.  Then by hand to try to get rid of orbital tracks.
Just one coat of walnut stain needed this time.
And I've done one thin coats of polyshade (wiped off right after application).

Still to solve:
-- non-working mortise lock that is a strange size
-- door is 1/4" shorter than opening
-- workable door hinges that at least look old