Refinishing Old Oak Doors

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I want to refinish our 100 year old oak front door on the exterior side. You can see from the photo that the finish is in releatively good shape except for a few small areas where the finish is worn from water and time. I would like some suggestions as to the best way to proceed. Initially I was hoping I could lightly sand everything to prepare for the new finish. Do I NEED to strip it to do this right? Will the color be uneven otherwise? I was hoping to avoid this at first as the finish is still pretty intact and it will be hard to remove………Some more questions: If need to strip what’s the best product to strip with? How smooth (what grade) should this be to prepare for finish? Oil or water based? Suggestions for a good exterior finish? Will it look ok to apply the poly w/o stain -I’m assuming that’s how it was done previously. Suggestions appreciated!

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in Painters and Painting & Stripping 12 years and 10 months ago

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stevecym | 12 years and 10 months ago

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I would sand the moldings below the glass with 60/80/100/120/150.  the areas that have finish, I would cut with 120 and then 150 (and tack it off before applying finish).  Again, all this assumes the finish is in good shape as parkslopeps says.  I would not be so worried about staining over the finish.  what I would do – and this is where you have to make some decisions – is use a spar varnish (again, not a spar urethane or Helmsman, but a real varnish – we often use Mckloskys) and add a little dye to it to tint it to your liking.  Some brands are going to allow you to play with the color a little more than others.  Now Mckloskys will tend to amber or red (we kill that a little by adding green dye).  We have used a Ben Moore spar varnish which is clearer than the Mckloskys and works a little better with colorants. A good place to visit to talk to someone about this and compare different product is Abbot Paint on Eagle Street in Greenpoint.  Charlie the manager used to refinish old Brownstone doors so he has some hands on experience besides sitting behind a counter pushing a pen and sharing his bountiful knowledge.  He also has all of the product and the dyes – including one we like – Transtint (btw, a few drops of Transtint’s Golden Brown into the Ben Moore Spar would work well with your doors). Note, Abbot does not carry the Ben Moore product; we get ours at the hardware store on Court St. in Carrol Gardens. If the finish is failing and you have to strip it, Rock Miracle will do the trick. Steve http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/tinkerswagon

ParkSlopePS | 12 years and 10 months ago

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if the existing finish is sound- not crazing or cracking or peeling, you can glaze over it with a pigment stain to get the color you want, and then topcoat with a quality marine varnish. I suggest something like Epifanes, or Bristol finish- not helmsman or other cheaper products. You need to spend like $150 per gal for a quality finish with UV blockers; but that will be something that rotects well, and will last. Sanding is important for good adhesion between coats.