Tired internal doors — is it worth refinishing/repairing them or just replacing?

Short answer: if the doors are solid and structurally sound, refinishing + new hardware almost always beats replacing on cost and result — a repaint/re-veneer and good new handles/hinges makes tired doors look new for a fraction of replacement. Replace when the door is hollow-core and damaged, water-swollen, warped, or you're changing the size/style.

How I'd decide, door by door:

Refinish/repair is the smart money when: - The door is solid (solid timber or solid-core) and just cosmetically tired — scuffs, dated colour, dated handles. Sand/prep + repaint (or re-veneer) + new hardware transforms it. - The only fault is sticking or dropping — that's usually hinge adjustment or easing an edge, not a reason to bin the door.

Replace when: - Hollow-core and damaged — once the thin skin is punctured or the core is crushed, there's little to repair; a new door is cheaper than faking it. - Water-swollen or warped (bathroom/humidity damage) — the timber's lost its integrity. - You want a different size, style or fire-rating you can't get by refinishing.

The deciding factor is exactly what you guessed: solid vs hollow-core, plus water damage. Solid + sound = refinish; hollow + damaged = replace. Common mistake: replacing a whole houseful of perfectly solid doors because they *look* tired — that's spending replacement money for a refinish result. A carpenter can tell you per door which is which. A joinery/carpentry team can refinish, rehang and re-hardware sound doors, and only replace the ones genuinely gone — same repair-vs-replace judgement people apply to custom vs off-the-shelf joinery. How did people's refinished doors hold up?

Refinished a set of solid doors rather than replacing and it was the right call — sanded, repainted, new brushed handles and hinges, and they genuinely look new for way less than new doors. The two hollow-core ones that had been knocked through, I replaced, because there was nothing to save. So it ended up a mix, which is the honest answer: judge each door. Don't let anyone quote you a whole houseful of new doors without checking which are solid and fine underneath.

Budget angle — new hardware alone (handles + hinges) modernises a tired door surprisingly well and costs little, so even before repainting, that's the cheap win. I refinished the solid ones and only replaced the genuinely damaged hollow ones. The mistake I nearly made was assuming "dated = replace"; most of mine just needed a refresh, not a bin. Get someone to tap them (solid vs hollow) and check for swelling before deciding — that tells you which route each door takes.