Paint the door and use bondo to recreate the sharp edges.

PPF I was afraid of that. In medicine you can still pursue action if you discover damage later. Is that not true in home repair jobs? It’s amazing to me that this painter is ok not acknowledging his poor work is causing me to spend far more money fixing his crap job. I guess everyone has their standards...

You're Sr%&&%*(

And to anyone reading this best to look at and approve stain on a piece of wood of the same species - not the actual thing being sanded as it may result in resanding to get the result you want (like the OP)...sorry you went through this.

As much as I hate to say it, I think you're out of luck. I would be livid, too, so I get your frustrations. I think you'll have to take it as a lesson learned & just make sure to not recommend him if his name is brought up in the future for other home builders. You may could leave a review as well, if he has a business page. Just remember to keep the review professional & without emotion, stating the facts & why you would not recommend him. Good luck with the repair!

Thank you everyone for your responses. I contacted an attorney for legal advise. I was told that actually I can pursue legal action even though I paid him. Here's the rub, however. I have to ask him to fix it, and he if refuses, then I can take him to small claims court. The issue is I don't want this guy touching anything in my house and I don't trust that he's capable of fixing the damage correctly. I think the only thing to do now is to post reviews on him that are an honest account of what happened and I'll even post the before and after pictures. I'll make sure every contractor and person I know understands what happened. I will be fair as the painting he did inside the house was fine. I gave him plenty of opportunities to do the right thing and only asked for him to send back the amount for the work he did on the door he damaged. It's his reputation....

I'm curious to see the before and after pics. Staining wood is definitely an art that has lots of variables, especially oak. I learned a long time ago that not every painter is a great stainer. I would trust a cabinet maker to stain doors before a painter.

Any explanation for the gashes?

@shead The issue was really with the sanding. The edging was rounded out and we think the gashes are from the sanding. The painter would not acknowledge that he caused the damage. He also did not refute that he did it. So he provided no explanation despite showing him clearly in pictures the before and after.

Post your pics.

This is just one example of multiple gashes throughout the door. Also, if you look at the bottom panel you can see the rounded off edges. This is on almost all the panels. Top is before, bottom after

There is something odd about the appearance of the wood color in the before and after photos. It appears the before photo shows the door already stained.

Are you sure the door is made of Oak? It looks a lot like pine which is hardly a stain-grade wood...

I agree with Virgil. Doesn't look oak and definitely looks like it was already stained beforehand. Was the previous finished stripped off the door? I'm wondering if a scraper caused the damage.

I actually like the patina that the gashes/knicks give the door. I'm not letting the previous painter off the hook but I'm betting you're the only one who would ever know it was damaged. Wooden doors don't generally tend to stay pristine and with age and use develop knicks and dents here and there.

Can you post a picture of the full door before and the full door after?

Agree this doesn't look like Oak, but possibly a softwood, which would be fine. Also it looks like this wasn't a new door, but a sand down and refinish, which is very difficult. Looks like hardware was left on, which I wouldn't recommend.

If all that is true, then sand and paint is your best option to save the door.

"We hired a painter to sand and stain a large custom made oak door."

I misunderstood that to mean that it was a new door that had been custom made. After seeing the photos (which are too small) I can see that the door is not new.

I too assumed that it was a new door. Typically stain over stain doesn't work and that definitely looks like a run of the mill standard raised panel pine door from my monitor and the little picture provided. Sanding a stain finish off of a veneer door is also next to impossible.

Thank you all for comments. it’s an old door. i was told it was oak but I guess that’s not correct, which makes me feel better because maybe it’s not as expensive as I thought. But it is solid. The issue was really more about the gashes and that he sanded out the edges on the details not necessarily the stain issues. But maybe it shouldn’t be stained?

How much did you pay the painter and how much did you pay for the door?

Unless there is a really good reason (historical significance?) to keep this door, maybe you need to cut your losses and purchase a new door. Are you going to be throwing good money after bad?