High Gloss or Satin Gloss: The Choice Per Door and Frame

Do you have flat wood, a good substrate and want the colour to speak? Choose high gloss. Do you have old, somewhat lived-in wood or prefer a calm look? Choose satin gloss. Indoors, satin gloss usually applies for doors and frames, because you look at them up close, under sharp light. Outdoors there is more room for gloss.

You do not have to make one choice for the whole house. Frames can be satin gloss and the front door high gloss, as long as it all keeps fitting together. We help with that: customers mention the honest advice in reviews, and that also applies if a sheen is not a good idea on your wood. Also look at what is already there: a frame that has been in satin gloss for years does not simply get high gloss without extra preparation.

On paper the difference seems small, on a door in the afternoon sun it is not. These are the points that decide in practice when you make your choice:

Gloss works like a mirror: light falls on every bit of surface and you see every spot that is not flat. An old filler patch that disappears under satin gloss suddenly shows in full under high gloss. That is why we sand extra carefully with Festool, in grits 150, 180 and 240, and fill more often. That takes time, and that time is part of the price.

On black it gets even sharper. The shed doors that we lacquered in high gloss black almost mirror the garden, but that is only possible if everything underneath is right. We explain that preparation at preparation, sanding and priming. Half the result lies there.

Outdoors, high gloss resists dirt better, because rain rinses the surface clean. That is pleasant on a facade facing open land, where wind blows dust and green growth against the doors. In Sneek a house got woodwork in RAL 7016 and RAL 9010, with the front door in anthracite high gloss. In Langweer we worked with Sikkens Express High Gloss, on a 1930s house in cream white and Antique Green.

Satin gloss does fine outdoors too, and on old buildings it sometimes suits the atmosphere better. In Bolsward exterior doors got Rubbol Satura 9010 in satin gloss, over two coats of Primer Express. Gloss does not decide how long the coating lasts, preparation and position do.

Indoors you see the wood up close and in lamplight falling at an angle along the door. High gloss quickly gives a hard, restless impression there, and every dent from a vacuum cleaner or toy car stands out. Satin gloss is therefore the usual choice on interior doors, frames and skirting boards, also because a scratch on a skirting board then does not stand out straight away. On a staircase too it is safer, because it feels less slippery and scratches are less noticeable.

Still, there is room for an exception: a stately hallway or a classic panelled door can take gloss, if the substrate is good. Then it is a conscious choice, and we discuss that during the site visit, so you do not hear afterwards that something does not fit.

A terraced house with black frames in high gloss looks modern, like our house in RAL 9005. A farmhouse with old frames and a low roof edge can start to look fake in the same gloss. On 1930s houses, white with a light sheen often suits the style well. High gloss can look good there, provided the wood is crisp, and that proved true in Langweer.

Look at the colour itself too. Cream white and RAL 9010 look different in high gloss than in satin gloss. Anthracite in high gloss is much more striking than in matt. That is why trying it on the real woodwork is always better than choosing from a colour fan. You can read more about white at RAL 9010 or cream white.

• Photos of the woodwork, both as a whole and close up.
• Close-ups of the worst spots, so we can see the substrate.
• The year of construction and the style of the home.
• The colour you are considering.
• Which parts are involved, and inside or outside.
• The compass direction of the facade, if it concerns exterior work.

On that basis we can often already give first advice. During the site visit we check whether the wood can take the chosen sheen, before any paint is bought.

The paint itself makes little difference, the time does. High gloss on old wood means more sanding and filling. Nationally the market indication for exterior painting is from €35 per m2, and an exterior frame from €50 each. With a lot of repair that goes up, and gloss shows repair spots sooner too.

At MJA you get a fixed price after the site visit, for the sheen we have chosen together. We work with Sikkens, Sigma and Wijzonol, among others, and the warranty period is in the quote. If you want to see the whole picture, look at painting window frames and doors.

Send us a photo of the woodwork via the quote request, or WhatsApp 06 3006 0558, and say which colour you have in mind. Mohamed will give you an honest answer, even if it is different from what you expected. On Google we have 4.8 from 25 reviews.

At the site visit we go through everything and record it in the quote. Then you know exactly which paint, which sheen and which steps are going onto your house. We work across Friesland, from Mirns, for private customers and small businesses.