Replies

1. 
   Pondfish | Sep 02, 2004 07:11pm | #1

   A combination of oil and varnish might do well.  I like using a penetrating oil to get a little more protection and to highlight the grain some (but beware of blotchiness!), and 3-4 coats of varnish for weather protection.  You can always adjust the glossiness with sanding (320-400) or buffing with 00 steel wool.

   Wiping stains are popular, but you can tint the topcoat for color.

   You might also consider a sanding sealer between the oil and varnish.  Shellac, of course, in not suitable as a top coat for an exterior door, but I see no harm in having a layer as a sanding sealer.   Darker shellacs on pine are very warm and beautiful, but if you use a shellac, be certain it is dewaxed, or you will have problems with the topcoat. [I've never used a vinyl sealer, but that would be yet another option.]

   Glad to see you want to keep the grain showing.  I had a friend who bought a beautiful Cypress front door, and then painted it.  -cringe-

   Paul

2. 
   NCLaquer | Sep 02, 2004 08:21pm | #2

   First a comment about the staining process: 

   Gel stains are great and I use them on problem wood to avoid the blotches.  Some brands are thicker than others and work to reduce blotching simply by the fact that they do not flow and thus do not get absorbed unevenly in areas of differing densities.  If you use a gel stain, there is no need to use wood conditioner.  Conditioners work to reduce stain absorption.. not a factor with gel.

   The down side to gel stains is that they hide the wood grain much more than liquid stain.  Depending on how you apply it, grain obstruction may be very high. 

   Do you have a sample of the same wood from which your door is made on which you can practice?  I have had good luck staining clear pine with pigment/dye stain combination products (such as minwax).  I would expect that an exterior door would be made of clear pine, but it's worth testing.  These stains would give you great transparency.

   On to the finish:

   I suggest spar varnish without question.  Spar varnish will dry to a slightly flexible film perfect for exterior use.  I would use several coats, scuffing in between.  As with any exterior finish, inspect annually and plan on reapplying another coat of spar every couple years or so.  Minwax's Helmsman is a spar varnish.  I think other companies may call it exterior urethane.

   Let me know how it goes.

1. 
   SCaseria | Sep 02, 2004 09:57pm | #3

   I think I'm ok with the higher coverage of a gel stain if it means I'll get less blotchiness. Do the gel stains darken if they sit longer before wiping off the excess, or is what you see what you get?

   The door is a little too tall, so when I trim it I'll have an inch or so to test stain. Not much to give me a sense of what it'll look like, but better than nothing.

   Paul, if I go your route, what will the wood look like after the penetrating oil? Will it just have a warmer tone? Or is my final color coming from the shellac?

   I welcome any more suggestions -- but overall I'm looking for something that will look good given my lack of skill (I'd hate to botch up the front door).

   Thanks again.

1. 
   NCLaquer | Sep 02, 2004 11:11pm | #4

   Do the gel stains darken if they sit longer before wiping off the excess, or is what you see what you get?

   Well, yes and no.  Gels do not penetrate deeply, so from that perspective it does not matter how long you leave them.  On the other hand, you can put it on pretty thick.  If you put in on thick, there will be a drametic difference if you wipe off before it dries versus letting it sit a long time. 

2. 
   Pondfish | Sep 02, 2004 11:38pm | #5

   Hi,

   I suggested the penetrating oil mostly for a little more protection and to highlight the grain--but you can get oils that have pigment in them.  If I want to accent the grain, though, I stay away from pigments (which to me look like little colored specks of gunk that hide the grain) and lean toward tints or colors.  There are several brands of tints that can be added to a penetrating oil.  There are also dyes that are water-based, but these will raise the grain, so I'd avoid them.  With tints you can mix them to get the exact color you want, or you can just buy one close to what you want.  Check out Garrett Wade or Woodworker's supply for tints and organic based dyes (as opposed to water based ones).

   If you don't dye the oil, you can get varying degrees of warmth from the shellac.  Shellac comes in many grades, from brown to nearly colorless.  In the photo named "light" below, I have fir doors that were given two coats of amber shellac.  The photo named "dark" is a yellow pine that has a darker shellac covered with varnish (the window trim is identical to the doors in the "light" picture).  It's also 40 years old, so it has darkened with age, but I have duplicated the aged color easily by varying the number of coats of shellac.

   I concur about spar varnish being the topcoat of choice.

   Last but not least, EXPERIMENT!  Trying out a finish on the door is hazardous.  Get a piece of similar pine and experiment with different combinations and colors.  You'll be glad you did.

   Best of luck,

   Paul

   PS if you haven't used shellac before, remember you must used dewaxed shellac.  Zinsser "Bullseye" is NOT dewaxed, but Zinsser "SealCoat" is, and also has a light nutty tone to it.  Otherwise you can buy dewaxed shellac flakes from shellac.net or other woodworking suppliers.