Finish for an exterior Oak door.

[keith micinski]

I just bought a used oak door from an auction and am getting ready to refinish it. I had a few questions. The door is in pretty good shape overall but does have some water staining and graying of the wood on the very bottom of it. Should I just sand this and refinish or are there any other suggestions on how to handle this? Also I usually use tongue oil on my oak projects but since this is going to be outside I was researching and it looks like a Marine Spar varnish would be the way to go. Does anyone have any other suggestions on finishes that might be better. I will hopefully be able to take some pics of the door later and post them.

[keith micinski]

Here are some pics of the damage to the door.

[keith micinski]

And here is what the door looks like all together.

[Scott Holmes]

Make sure you use a quality marine varnish.

The best are made from phenolic resin and tung oil. Waterlox Marine is just such a product. Don't let the price scare you it's worth it. (~$40/ qt) If you can't find Waterlox go to a Marina or boat supply house to get your Marine varnish. The big box stores don't carry high quality varnish they carry high profit, marine varnish.

Stay far away from anything varnishes that have ureathane in it... ureathane resins are highly susceptible to UV damage.

[keith micinski]

One thing I forgot to mention was that this door is going to be under a covered awning is going to see almost no weather and no sunlight at all. Also I would like to get something that I don't need to sand constantly. I would rather reapply coats every year as opposed to having to sand it completely every two years to refinish.

[Prashun Patel]

If you want something like that, then consider a Watco Teak Oil finish type of product. These are basically exterior grade long oil finishes. It won't give you the ding protection of a shorter varnish, though.

Personally, I like the oil finishes better outside. I'm like you: I prefer a quick reapplication once-twice a year, then a full on refinishing project every 3-4 years.

[keith micinski]

I just went to my local woodworking store and they had the Watco there but they also had a product by general finishes that he said was rated the best by Fine woodworking magazine and was supposed to have a five year finish. The next problem is he almost talked me into getting a Fein Multimaster and I am starting to think I might actually need it to do a good job on this door. Suffice it to say I really didn't plan on spending 250 bucks on a sander right now that I will probably never use again but I may break down and get it.

[Prashun Patel]

Which finish from General is it?

[keith micinski]

Outdoor oil.

[dennis thompson]

Keith
You might want to look the the Harbor Freight multi use tool, item # 65700. I have one & its works fine for me, it's on sale for $39.99 so you don't have much to lose.
Dennis

[keith micinski]

Thats not a bad idea. I might give that a try.

[Scott Holmes]

Use a quality MARINE varnish. Fine Woodworking is notorious for pushing products of their advertisers; makes good business DOLLARS.

Urethane resin varnishes will deteriorate in UV; the finish beneath your yearly fresh coat, will fail; you will need to strip it all off and refinish.

Using a quality NON-POLY marine varnish you will not need to strip it to recoat it.. Just clean it, lightly sand, and re-varnish.

Oils provide vertually no protection regardless of what the "marketing guys" say. They will crystlize and need to be redone more often.

[keith micinski]

I don't have any local suppliers I can think to go to for a marine varnish is one problem. The other is I really wouldn't mind wiping a coat of oil on every spring as opposed to cleaning light buff clean again and then maybe more coats. I will do some more research on this oil finish I have. What you say makes sense about a magazine supporting there advertisers.

[Craig Hemsath]

Could you stop by a paint store and get a clear paint base & try that?

[Neal Clayton]

Use a quality MARINE varnish. Fine Woodworking is notorious for pushing products of their advertisers; makes good business DOLLARS.

Urethane resin varnishes will deteriorate in UV; the finish beneath your yearly fresh coat, will fail; you will need to strip it all off and refinish.

Using a quality NON-POLY marine varnish you will not need to strip it to recoat it.. Just clean it, lightly sand, and re-varnish.

Oils provide vertually no protection regardless of what the "marketing guys" say. They will crystlize and need to be redone more often.

resin varnishes stick to themselves after they're dry just fine. you are right that they will fail in the sun, so they're not appropriate for that if the door will get sunlight.

spar varnishes are just UV resistant polyurethane. when they fail (and they will), the loose film has to be removed like any other film building finish before recoating. which is a huge mess, tbh.

'deck stains' and other penetrating oils like those shawn mentioned can also be recoated without removal, and due to their penetrating nature don't have to be removed before recoating, because they don't have a film to crack and separate from the wood.

try letting a coat of spar varnish cure in a can sometime, and flex the can a bit to simulate seasonal movement. it doesn't take long to crack up and separate...

i honestly don't understand the recent popularity of spar varnishes. no transparent exterior wood finish will last in the sun. that's a given. so the logical choice is the one that's the easiest to maintain. and spar varnishes are not that.