I am refinishing some 8 foot tall exterior doors with a single light approx. 8 inches narrower and two feet shorter than the door it’s self. The client wants a natural finish and has tried every type of varnish including oil and water based. any ideas would be appreciated. Something that wouldn’t require stripping and sanding every other year, maybe an oil and varnish mix? This is S. Calif. high desert and very dry. Temp. range is 15 degrees to 120 degrees. The wood is Douglas Fir.
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Part of the problem may be the wood. Doug Fir has lots of resins that tend to repel paint so it is hard to seal in. For an oil finish you need something that will be chemically capable of marrying or at least shaking hands with the fir resins. Most paint companies have 800 numbers for tech help and good paint stores have people who have been briefed on the basics of paint chemistry and know where to go for answers.
My instinct is for a true tung oil if you can get to raw wood that is untainted by previous attempts. Tung oil is the basis for lots of water repellant finishes and rubbing oils that can be touched up.
Yopu might also try over at the Knots forum. They have a finishing page and lots of expertise on this sort of thing.
doors that are going to be exposed to a lot of sunlight can be topcoated with automotive clear coat, about 150.00 bucks a gallon.
I thought that stuff had to sprayed on over a very specific binder coat ? Has the chemistry changed lately ?.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario