Recommend me an exterior woodstain?

[will_uk]

Hi gang,

I'm looking for recommendations for an exterior wood finish/woodstain.

My house is a typical 1970s end of terrace with a small downstairs WC/Porch on the front which is clad in pine boards stained dark.

We have recently had a new driveway and the woodwork is letting down the overall look.

I did refinish it in dark coloured Sadolins (Teak IIRC) a few years ago which has lasted okay but to be honest I was never really very keen on. It's a bit too glossy for such a large area (approx 6/7ft tall and a few ft wide and round two sides) and the shade was a bit too reddy-brown for my liking. Looks a bit dated to be honest like old 1980s pub furniture which has been stained to look like hardwood!

Any suggestions for a more muted shade of wood finish - ideally satin sheen or below and perhaps a greyish/dark grey/brown finish which would match tonally to our graphite and light grey coloured drive. We have to keep it some sort of shade of brown as there is a covenant but the rest of the houses range from Ebony to an almost terracotta type paint so as long as it's some shade of brown/wood coloured I should be okay!

I quite like the slate grey colours you get on modern garden furniture etc and new build windows etc - but something between that and brown would probably be as close to grey as I could get away with.

Any suggestions most welcomed

I've sanded nearly half of it down properly to bare wood now, I really want to get it looking smart and to last properly for a good few years this time

I have only a few pics on my phone to show the sort of colours and the wood itself. Hopefully someone can recommend something.

Thanks in advance,

Will

 

[will_uk]

Okay well I got the front all stripped off and sanded down. Just the two sides to go.

Wood seems pretty sound although there's a few knots and one or two small pieces I will need to fill.

Any recommendations welcome.

Should I be using nitromors/chemical stripper? Or stick to sanding down. It's taking a fair old while but at least the wood is getting flatted down slightly where it's cupped and the odd scrapes taken out. It's less weathered by the door so hopefully won't be as bad as the wood is flatter/smoother but the other side looks worse!