I have to sets of mahogany entrance doors(actually storm doors) that at one time were exposed to some weather and now the porch roof has been extended 12′ so they are now pretty well protected. They have some kind of satin finish which has worn off bottom rails ; but cant tell if its a poly or spar varnish. What kind of finish would u reccomend to refinish these. Sikkens? I assume the exterior sides will have to be resanded down to bare wood before proceeding ?Thanks for any suggestions.
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Spar is probably your best bet, and I'd sand enough to get rid of anything thats loose or questionable, but I don't know that "to bare wood" is a necessity. Depending on how high end you feel like being today, there's also a handful of finishes you'll probably find only at boating enthusiast sites, but I used one, once (I know, great experience base there pal) that was designed for teak. It was some kind of resin but I don't know I'd swear that it was an epoxy. And it had a solvent you wiped the wood with first. At any rate. That stuff, that looked awesome. Made me think at the time "If I have to do an expensive exterior door someday . . . " but of course I've forgotten where I even found it by now.
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Penofin or Australian Timber oil
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I second Cabots Australian Timber Oil. But I believe it's best on bare wood.
I've got to completely disagree with you on the Australian Timber Oil. I almost got a whole 4 months out of it on the weather-exposed parts of the deck (and I'm talking central CA here, folks - we don't really get weather)! And I'm not alone - there have been a number of posts on several different sites about this stuff.
Now, maybe in a sheltered situation with no sun or rain exposure... Also, Mahogany is more porus so it might work better than on Machiche (an Ipe-substitute).
One thing that I do like about Cabot's ATO is the fact that it's not a film finish. When it starts to look dry (which it does, usually within a year or so depending upon the amount of sunlight it gets), just wipe on some more, no scraping to remove the flaky stuff, and maybe just a very light sanding to clean up any dry wood. I've only been using it for a couple of years, on a couple of ipe decks and recently on a mahog. screen door. With regular attention, it's been relatively foolproof. No exterior finish is "maintenance free" but so far (IMO) I think the ATO has the lowest maintenance requirements for the exotic hardwoods.
Your comments make me wonder what the difference is between your deck and mine. Maybe the contractor didn't do the prep correctly. I know they sanded first since - it took them so long to put down the deck that it had started to fade. It looked good in October; by Feb there was no finish in the exposed areas and the color was fading rapidly.
Also makes me wonder if there are different formulations of the product in different parts of the country. We can't get the "good stuff" here in California; it seems that most manufacturers haven't found a good high solids low VOC formula yet.
I like the idea of an oil-based finish that can just be reapplied, but I sure don't have the courage to give the Cabot's another try.
I am with you on that, re the Timber Oil. These guys that tout the look of things like Timber Oil, Sikkens, and Penofin, are obviously not around in the future at maintenance time. They all look beautiful when just-done.
Mahogany begs for a spar varnish job, just like the trim on boats. An earlier poster defined the technique to use, going on first well-thinned, then building with progressively less-thinned material.
And, any entrance way begs for cover. I don't like to see an exterior door done without some healthy roof or porch overhang.
This has been a good thread for me, because I'm planning on refinishing my Mahogany front door. I do have the right conditions - although it's on the West-facing wall it's set in 4' from the wall, and the whole front wall has a 6' porch so no direct sun or rain hit the door.
The door has 3 carved panels - kind of a rustic/Spanish look. Some of the end-grain on the carving is a bit rough, and I've considered sanding it down but wonder I would lose some of the rustic look. It currently has a couple of coats of Varathane Natural Oil Finish, and looks pretty good (the finish iws 2 yrs old).
I'm having trouble seeing how spar varnish would look on this door - it seems to me that it would be too glossy - the Varathane is almost too much as it is.
Here's the door:
View Image
And the front yard, for context (formal it's not!):
View Image
Edited 7/14/2006 12:22 pm by wrudiger
Edited 7/14/2006 12:22 pm by wrudiger
When we finish Mahogany in the boat business, we cut the first application 50/50 spar and thinner. After that drys sand add 25% more spar to 50/50 mix, dry,sand. Final with 2 coats sand between applications.