Hello to all,

I am normally a breaktimer but I volunteered to refinish some oak doors at my church.  They are fairly new – about 2-3 years old and the finish is starting to fail.

In the spring I will strip the old finish and reapply a new clear coating.  My question is two fold.  First – I want to apply something over the existing finish to ” get through the winter” without allowing any more damage to occur.  I am not sure what was applied when they were installed.  Is there a ” universal” coating I can use that will #1 – adhere to whatever is on them now and #2 – not make the job of stripping the doors impossible in the near future?  Second – assuming I can remove the original coating, what is the best product to use in the spring?  They face north and are exposed to the weather.  There is very little overhang.  They are located on Long Island so we get everything from 100* summer heat to below zero winters with snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc.  Sort a little bit of everything.

Assuming I do the right job in the spring ( I am fairly skilled in this) how long should I expect the coating to last before the next refinish?

Thanks for the help.