WhiteInteriorWood Doors

I tried to put on a coat of Flecto Diamond Semigloss Varathane on my interior doors. They are dark walnut wood about 27 years old. I used Flectos water based product. I tested first on the trim and it dried with no problem so i went ahead with the doors. When they dried large parts of my doors were white. I am guessing the original finish finish was laquer or some other oil based product. Who knows what they were using those many years ago. So how do I get myself out of this jackpot. I know I have to switch back to an oilbased -product but what prep do i do? Fortunately I have only covered 5 sides not the 14 I have.

Just thinking here, Depending on the quality of the wood in the doors, you might be better off selling them to someone who want's real wood doors, and buying yourself some of the already paint ready doors at a home center.

It always kind of makes me cringe when good quality wood gets painted over.

First up is to remove what you put on. I will assume that the trim you refer to was prepared in a different manner than the doors. There you have two choices. Sand back to bare wood and finish as you did the trim. Or, using various solvents, determine the existing finish. When you know the solvent the dissolves the old finish you can determine what the original finish was. And when that is known, then we can plan from there. But the 5 sides you did may need a different treatment. First things first.

Brent seems to have read paint in there someplace. I didn't see that, but do share what you're intended final product is to look like.

Oops, My bad. If I read paint, I apologize! (Thanks Carol!)

I'm guessing that the 'white' is actually a blush in the finish under the Varathane. Likely, the old finish was either solvent based lacquer (most likely) or shellac, and either one can 'blush' to a cloudy white when exposed to excess moisture - like the water-based Varathane.

Unfortunately, the only repair that'll work now is stripping all the finish off and starting over. 'Twon't be fun, for sure!

As Jim said the blushing is most likely moisture getting under the old finish. one thing you can try that may make it easier to go to the next step. rub down the white areas with denatured alcohol then go over them with a hairdryer. try it in one spot first. I have had success with this with wb products one where a client put a hot pan down on a towel and the heat/moisture penetrated the finish. Not saying this will solve your finish incompatibility but it may save you on having to strip the door completely.