protecting a new door

[opps]

Hi terence

I have only just noticed that you want to stain the door at some point in the future.

When you say stain do you mean wood stain rather than coloured varnish?

If yes then anything that you apply now might make wood staining ill advised in the future. Apologies to MrHelpful who had addressed the point.

Can you elucidate as to why you wont be staining the door prior to protecting it?

Personally I prefer to stain and apply clear varnish due to the fact that stains/dyes penetrate a mill or so, whereas coloured varnishes are largely surface borne. Slight/shallow chips are more obvious with the latter.

 

[JohnD]

agree

also the colour of a tinted stain will be more or less deep depending on the thickness, so will vary with how heavily you loaded the brush, or if it wears away. Much easier to dye with Colron then apply a pale finish.

 

[Terry7556]

we meaning swmbo are so pleased with the door we didnt want to do anything that risks spoiling the present appearence but it sounds like best practise would be to protect it from the weather even though its inside a porch
im loathe to do this, moving goalposts after a post is started but what would you say if i wanted to protect it and not stain /change the colour of the door.im sorry for this by the way
my decorating knowledge is at diy level but im trying to learn.my post from a fortnight ago about sandtex hibuild was an eye opener. went back to the job today, (less than a mile away and i know the customer well )
and the material is finally touch dry.applied thursday the 17th. first 5 days material protected with heavy gauge poly.will wait untill spring before painting, as per the data sheet ( 3 months)

 

[JohnD]

bare untreated timber is absorbent and will soon get dirty. Hands and fingerprints will leave black greasy marks that will have to be sanded off.

A satin finish will look very natural, though it will darken the colour slightly, much as if you wetted it with water or white spirirt. It will also emphasise the grain and any figuring, which is usually considered to let the natural beauty show through.

 

[Terry7556]

hi john i have looked in the screwfix catalogue, page 163 item 29459 ronseal 5 year satin wood stain.is that the sort of thing you meant?

 

[Growler]

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.j...pecificationsSpecificProductType=wood_varnish
Ronseal is also available.

...nearly there Terence...nearly there

 

[Terry7556]

ahhh master po now i see, many thanks for your time
grasshopper

 

[JohnD]

the screwfix ones all seem to be tinted, I would prefer a clear one.

 

[Growler]

This is going to be the Mother of all doors if ever it's finished. Then.... we'll start on the other side of it.

There is however, what could be a problem.
In 1 of the pics, there appears to be some wood glue used and it's been wiped off, mainly on the mid stile, but the remnants of it remain.

I, would first wipe over it with a clean damp sponge or lint free rag and if it remains or shows up badly, try to disperse it by keeping it damp and wiping it off or indeed just blending it a bit more with the bulk of the wood.

Allow to dry, then continue with your chosen product/s .

 

[JohnD]

I can't see the glue you mean, but if that's correct, I would be thinking more of a fine sanding, rather than a damp rag.

I would not expect a front door to be built using glue that will wash away in the rain.

 

[Growler]

Why would you not use a damp lint free rag or sponge (if it is glue) ?

 

[JohnD]

waterproof glue

plus the water will raise the grain

 

[Growler]

Ah.
The old "grain" issue eh.

Highly unlikely just using a damp rag or sponge. I'm not suggesting it should be immersed in a bath for a week.

Just a damp wipeover.

 

[opps]

I can't see any glue but in the second picture it does look as though there might be silicone on the glazing bead, if so then it would need sanding back. varnish/stain will not adhere to silicone

In the event of glue being on the surface I would not expect any damp rags to be able to remove the residue. Sanding is the only viable option. Any glue that can be removed with a bit of spit, post curing, is not worth using... If hand sanding remember to sand in the direction of the grain, otherwise the varnish will exacerbate the scratches.

I still maintain that water based varnish will lead to grain swelling. You can however mitigate the extent by using a wet rag first to raise the grain and then sand that back (a commonly used technique when staining with water based (grain raising) products), prior to using a wb finish.

I appreciate that the growler and I have given you very different answers. regardless, there are pros and cons to both oil and water based. The latter is more difficult to apply to virgin wood because of the speed at which it soaks in (this is especially true of coloured varnishes), it does however have the advantage of not yellowing (in time due to a lack of UV light), it is (much) faster drying and curing, VOC friendly, easier to clean up after- but it is far less durable, and IMO much more difficult to achieve a super high quality of finish.

 

[Terry7556]

well i have gone from no replies at the first day or two to answers of this quality.
im very fortunate and would just like to buy you all a virtual pint
cheers guys