Bit of a basic question I'm afraid, but I've not done much decorating before. My front door is a kind of reddish brown colour. It's in decent condition but I wanted to make it a darker, maybe walnut colour. Do I use stain on its own, coloured varnish, or stain and clear varnish? Does it need stripping or sanding first? How many coats? I know this is a bunch of questions but I've done a fair amount of searching the forums and all the previous posts on simlar topics seem to assume a knowledge of these basics.
Front door - stain, varnish or both?
- Thread starter DanAir
- Start date
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It is very much exposed to weather, but I don't know what it's been treated with previously - it was there when I bought the house.
Clear finishes exposed to the weather need a lot of maintenance. Probably rubbing down and recoating alternate years. If you let varnish degrade you will probably have to strip right back to get a good surface. Makers often say they should be used only when protected by at least an open porch. My exposed back doors don't stay smart for long but the front door in a porch lasts 5 or 6 years and looks OK.
if you could puzzle out what it was previously treated with, you could use the same stuff again without much rubbing down.
you will not be able to use a wood dye (Colron or similar) without getting back to bare timber all over (this is quite laborious, especially if the panelled door has moulding)
unless you use a dye, you will need coloured stain (like a tinted varnish) if you want to change the colour, although I prefer a modern flexible breathing stain, which will be less inclined to crack and degrade from the weather.
There is a problem in using the tinted stains; the thicker you apply them, the darker they look. this even shows lap marks and where you have heavily loaded the brush will be darker than where it is well brushed out.
I have recently tried an oil finish on exposed hardwoods, which seems to be lasting well. I stained mine with Colron first. I am hoping I can apply maintenance coats without much rubbing down.
if you could puzzle out what it was previously treated with, you could use the same stuff again without much rubbing down.
you will not be able to use a wood dye (Colron or similar) without getting back to bare timber all over (this is quite laborious, especially if the panelled door has moulding)
unless you use a dye, you will need coloured stain (like a tinted varnish) if you want to change the colour, although I prefer a modern flexible breathing stain, which will be less inclined to crack and degrade from the weather.
There is a problem in using the tinted stains; the thicker you apply them, the darker they look. this even shows lap marks and where you have heavily loaded the brush will be darker than where it is well brushed out.
I have recently tried an oil finish on exposed hardwoods, which seems to be lasting well. I stained mine with Colron first. I am hoping I can apply maintenance coats without much rubbing down.
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