Waterproofing front doors

[Manjushri]

Bought engineered oak front door from well known w..... Store and varnished it as web site stated but now find the website was wrong and should have been stained.WEt year means wood is going dark in places.Can it be saved? Cost £550.00 thinking of sanding back and using epoxy if we get a dry spell!,

 

[xdave]

Do you have a copy of the incorrect instructions on their web site? If you can prove that they instructed you to varnish it then get them over to look at it and demand a replacement under the Sale of Goods Act. Their instructions comprised part of their supply to you. An external door should last longer than 12 months, therefore the goods (as installed to their instructions) are not of satisfactory quality. There is no 'limited warranty' period set out in law, and it does not matter that the door has been fitted and used before the fault was noticed/reported even though most retailers like to quote that as an exclusion. Your statutory rights override all contractural conditions. You can go to one of the popular expert money saving forums to discuss the best approach to take.

If you want to keep it you can sand back the varnish and epoxy it, however you will need to store it flat and do a lot of prep work between coats. The first will gas out when applied to untreated timber and you'll probably find bubbles still forming after sanding and applying the second coat as well. With paitence you can get a good finish. It would be much easier to just stain it through if you are going to restore it yourself.