Pro Handyman Blog

Many of us have door thresholds that have seen better days. In my neck of the woods, a metal threshold with an adjustable wood strip is the norm. When people come into the house that small wood strip must have a big target on it because that is where everyone steps. Dirty shoes, wet shoes, you name it and it grinds away at what was an attractive piece of wood. Over time it gets to looking like a wicked stepsister.

It’s really an easy fix to make the wood strip look nice again, but you will need to do a little prep work first. Give the strip a light sanding. Start with a medium grit sandpaper and then move to a fine grit. You don’t want to totally strip the piece down to bare wood, rather just knock off the damaged areas and get everything level again. You might see stained areas from water, so just hit it with a light sanding.

After the sanding, use a cloth and some stain. Dab the cloth into the stain and rub it onto the wood. You can go heavy or light on the stain, just be consistent with it so that the color is uniform. The wood will absorb the stain and you will get a nice rich color from the wood. This will be a normal maintenance item, but fortunately it doesn’t take long to do.