Finishing exterior mahogany door

[Ed Gibbons]

Door faces east. Should I use an oil or water spar varnish?

[Peter Quinn]

You should try Smith's CPES as a sealer with an alkyd (oil based) varnish top coat, be it spar or marine like Epifanes. Nothing out lives that epoxy for holding finish.

[Craig Kershaw]

There was an article in fine woodworking a few months ago where they tested several brands of finishes for durability in outside use. The Epifanes varnish tested best. I put some on my exterior mohagany door back in August and it seems to be holding up real well. My door faces due south so it sees some real abuse from the sun.

[J. Scott Holmes]

Epifanes varnish is indeed a high quality exterior finish. Note that no finish will survive outdoors without some up keep. Even Epifanes varnish needs to be refreshed every few years. In Houston it is more often but ask anyone that owns a boat and they will tell you that upkeep is a MUST.

Stay far away from anything that has urethane in it.

My reason for this advice...urethane is highly susceptible to UV damage.

Why would you put it in the sun?

Why do manufactures make and sell it?
2 reasons, it's very cheap to make and they know it wont last; so they sell it over and over again.

Don't let the price ($35-$50 per qt) of a quality marine varnish discourage you; it is worth every penny.

[Neal Clayton]

not only that, but urethane spar varnishes once cured do not stick to themselves, so at some point in the future you're looking at removal to refinish.

[J. Scott Holmes]

Neal ia corect to recoat poly you will need to sand the entire project so the refresh coat will stick. NO required withthe non poly Spar and mairne varnishes.

Also, the poly will get caulky (from the UV) then it MUST be removed be for you can recoat.

[steven sherman]

I have had luck using sikkens cetol 1 and 2 on a door facing west without an overhang in Florida. I did not have to strip the door to recoat after a couple of years of harsh exposure.

[Bill Arnold]

OK, so I enjoy woodworking and prefer to go the wood route whenever possible. However, our house had the original mahogany door that the builder had put on it and it had never been maintained. The door faces due West with about a 6-foot overhang. I used a couple of different products but there was so much weathering I finally decided to replace it. I wanted to reduce the maintenance issues so I chose a fiberglass door very similar to the solid wood door. The new door is pre-finished and looks great. Yeah, it's not wood but I can make a lot of other stuff from wood in my shop.

By the way, wood from the old door has become a new fireplace mantle so far and there's a lot more of it left. It's not going to waste!

[Neal Clayton]

yeah, exterior doors in the sun can be maintained, but you really have to want that natural finish bad enough to do it. it'll be at least a 3-5 year cycle with a dark deck stain type finish, probably a 2-3 year cycle with something more clear.

and if you ever get behind and let it weather, a lot of sanding and prep to bring it back.

[Eddie Watkins]

I re-did my east-facing door 4 years ago. I used a marine grade varnish then put up a full view glass door with UV protection in the glass. So far, the door shows virtually no wear. I don't know if it will last forever but it appears that it will last awhile.