Brownstone Entry Door Color

Hi folks, I’m in the middle of a project to replace my entry doors with reproductions of the originals. I need to choose a stain color and am interested in crowd-sourced opinions. Here is a color guide: http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains-color-guide/

For reference, my house looks like this (https://mediarouting.vestahub.com/Media/23457532/box/680×451), except mine is 3 storeys, not 2 plus english basement.

Happy to hear opinions!

Thanks!

EJR

in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago

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EJR | 8 years and 4 months ago

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Steve – I sent you an email as well. I would like to take you up on the offer to come see the doors and stain options this weekend. Let’s please discuss via email. Thanks.

stevecym | 8 years and 4 months ago

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hello folks, steve from the tinkers wagon. my apologies, i pretty much disappeared from bstoner some years back. you see, i made a mistake. i hired people and began servicing the tri state area and all i have now is a pile of paper work and really no more money. Oh, and we are late on jobs such as mr EJR’s, the op, and he was still kind enough to put my name forth. ok, i suppose. we are in the process of shrinking my company back to just me and limiting our area to BROOKLYN. and when it is just me working, i have no obligations to employees and can focus on the wood work i love and not have to worry about a lot of the worry employees bring.

that said, Mr. EJR, i have checked and all of the stain colors are in stock here and i want to add this here: part of offering a high level of service is being able to say you are welcome to come over here and we will run stain in front of you if you wish. i have not offered it up as you are in brooklyn and i in queens and this should be done in daylight, like tomorrow. i do like when customers come here as it r eally gives me a chance to show how we do what we do; marketing. i wish i can bring one of your doors to you, but we are late and i have to keep working on the moldings.

also, we keep a book of past jobs (all processes, glues, epoxies, what grit we sanded to, colors, and top coats); i can give you some addresses and you can look at stains. for instance, i offered up dark golden oak and you felt that was too light. if you can, go take a look at 31 downing street in the city (these are not rebuiilds but builds like yours) ; from where i sit, i think that was light or dark golden oak and though they go on light, 5 coats of marine varnish may be something else darker (it is).

one last comment. i sometimes refer to the facing we place on doors as “veneer”. it is not really veneer as it is 1/4″ thick. if potential customers see “veneer” they may think of something 1/64″ thick like we place on furniture, something which bubbles and cracks and breaks; that is not what we use on doors.

steve
www.thetinkerswagon.com

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago

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IMO both Medium Brown Walnut and Colonial Maple are quite similar, both attractive, and would work well over oak veneer. You wouldn’t go wrong with either, or, for that matter, with a number of other colors on the chart. It’s an individual aesthetic matter.

EJR | 8 years and 4 months ago

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Sure – I am using http://www.thetinkerswagon.com/. I’m still waiting on the doors to be installed, but I hired him based on previous recommendations.

petec | 8 years and 4 months ago

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Hello would you be willing to share who is building and/or installing your entry doors. Im looking for someone to do a similar project.

EJR | 8 years and 4 months ago

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thanks Bob. We’re going with an oak over pine core construction. Quote specifies marine varnish. As for stain, I think we are honing in on Medium Brown Walnut or Colonial Maple: http://www.handcraftedexcellence.net/stains/

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago

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Probably a color that’s appropriate for whatever type of wood your new door is made of–your aesthetic choice is most important.

Whatever stain you use cover it with REAL oil-based spar/marine varnish, which is designed to withstand the elements and can be re-applied every year or two. Do not use polyurethane, or any water-based varnish.