We just installed several beautiful interior, solid, 6 Panel Pine doors in our home, and now want to stain them. The issues are: 1) whether I am capable of doing this myself? don't want to hire someone, but, I've never stained a door before, nor am I a painter/stainer by anymeans. 2) Do I need to precondition them first? I've read other threads online about this -- some say "it's a must if you want an even color", other say the "uneveness is gorgeous and part of the natural character of wood". 3) What type of stain and varnish is best, water based or oil based? How many coats? (Thinking of Golden Oak for this soft Pine) 4) Which is easiest, Doors on the hinge or off, hardware on or off? 5) For sanding, what grit of sandpaper? First sanding? after staining? After each coat of Varnish?

During heavy rains the west facing window on the second story will leak as if the sill is flooding. Where should I begin to look to diagnose this problem? I would like to try to resolve this without calling in a repair order. Our home warranty will expire in just over a month but I believe we will have to pay out of pocket to get a contractor to come look at it. Now I will have to find the warranty paperwork to make sure. Any suggestions? [URL=http://img199.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01855f.jpg][IMG]http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6569/dsc01855f.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc01854r.jpg][IMG]http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8381/dsc01854r.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]