Pigeon Point Project A 1907 Craftsman, rebuilt · 2005–2009

Exterior door finishing

June 22, 2005 · Trissa · 10 comments

Our new doors should arrive in a couple of weeks, and I’ll be finishing all of them. (There are two exterior doors, an exterior French door, and 2 interior doors). I’ve started a little bit of research about exterior finishes. The store we bought the doors from recommends sealing them with a penetrating conditioner (Benite Clear from Daly’s), then staining them, followed by 3-5 coats of teak oil. The finishing book I have from Taunton has great information on the steps for sanding, but they’re only recommendation for exterior doors is to use spar varnish. Has anyone used either of these, or a different finish? I know I need to use an oil-based finish, but want to make my decision before the doors arrive so I’m ready to go! I know there is a ton of experience out there- so I’d love to hear from you!

10 Comments

  1. Gary·June 22, 2005

    Stain them, then use two or three coats of shellac which is also a sealer. That is what the old timers used. Then use spar varnish or exterior polyurethane or a marine varnish that won’t react to sunlight. The last coat is needed to protect the shellac and reduce scratching. If your doors won’t get wet then shellac may be enough.

    If you thin down the varnish and apply two or three coats it won’t look so plastic when dry. A wax polish with superfine steel wool also helps the final finish.

  2. merideth·June 22, 2005

    Yup…sounds like you got good advice. We went to Rockler to talk to the collection of dads and pro-wood resurfacers that work and hang out there. They recommended the conditioner (it basically helps seal the wood and preps it so the stain absorbs evenly), followed by stain, then sealed with spar varnish. Spar varnish (as the name implies) was built for use on boats so it’s hardcore about repelling moisture. It puts a hard, solid, thick protective coat on the door. Be warned though that it is shiney. So if you dont want that, and your door is hardwood, you might prefer to go with Cabots Australian Timber Oil. You will have to reapply more frequently than you would with the spar varnish though.

  3. Derek·June 22, 2005

    We used Waterlox on one of our interior doors, and it looks great. It’s expensive though, especially the marine grade finish. If the doors are fir, I’d be really careful staining them, I’ve had nothing but problems with staining fir. The conditioner will help, but parts that are less sanded will pick up more stain, and the finely sanded parts will pick up almost no stain. There are aneline(sp?) dyes too, I haven’t tried them though.

  4. Phil·June 22, 2005

    I don’t have any experience with teak oil but I’ve used a number of spar varnishes. If you go the spar route, pick one with a high UV protection. You may also want to do a test to make sure it is compatible with anything you put on to condition/stain the wood first. We had one boat where we had to remove the varnish because it wouldn’t dry. A slightly different formulation by the same brand worked fine.

    Did the door manufacturer say how often you would have to re-apply teak oil?

  5. Phil·June 22, 2005

    You can also buy semi-gloss spar varnish. They don’t have as much UV protection as the glossy finish, but you can use the gloss varnish for the first two coats and finish with the semi-gloss to get good UV protection and a semi-gloss finish.

  6. merideth·June 22, 2005

    as an added note, we did use the “semi-gloss” high UV-protectant spar varnish and it’s still what i would call full on glossy…i can only imagine how shiney the “gloss” is

  7. Trissa·June 22, 2005

    Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. I think what I will do is try to get a couple of small cans of the different types and try it out on some scraps of fir that we have around here. Luckily we will be using a clear stain, so that should help with the uneveness of color. The finishing book suggests 3 or 4 steps for sanding. I’ll try it out and let you know how it turns out and will post some pictures. I definitely don’t want to take any varnish off once I’ve put it on- thanks for the tips, Phil! I can save the doors for your visit, but I think Nick has other plans…

  8. Jim Murphy·May 25, 2008

    My exterior fir door is weathered a bit - looks like the shellac has worn off in certain spots. How do you recommend refinishing?

  9. Trissa·June 14, 2008

    Hi Jim- I just saw your comment today. Our doors are holding up beautifully. I started with brand new wood, so I would strip and sand the doors down to bare wood. Then I followed the directions for the spar varnish, starting with a 50/50 diluted solution and I sanded lightly in between each coat. I didn’t want the doors shiny so the last coat (sometimes two coats) were with the matte finish of the spar varnish. Good luck!

  10. teak lumber·July 16, 2008

    how about teak?