entry doors

[TETRA]

order a fir unfinished 9 light exterior door for Lowe's this morning,it was worse then buying a new car!!! Do any of you have a wooden exterior door in your homes? We plan on staining it ourselves..would like to hear from other on how this door is going to hold up...

 

[one_dryboot]

Just make sure you use a good exterior product on the outside or it will be peeling off and look like crap before you know it. And by good I don't mean what's a good price!

 

[smitty]

I'm a painter by trade, biggest problem people have with doors like this need regular maintenance. Use a good quality stain, and a finish sutable for your weather are climate. Wood doors are gorgeous but they do require extra TLC, otherwise you can ruin an expensive door within a short time.

They do make a high quality fiberglass door that looks just like wood, requires less maintenance.

 

[eelgrass]

If you do stain it, be sure to sand the joints really well. The builders are notorious for letting glue run out onto the wood. It dries clear, but won't accept a stain. Even if they wipe it off while it's wet it will still seal the pores of the wood. Just be sure and sand first.

After many years of refinishing mine, I finally sanded it down and painted it. I'm much happier.

Eel

 

[300wbymann]

couple of things.

eel is right, BUT-- many time "100% solid wood doors" are still a solid core with your fir/oak/maple/etc... veneer over the top. this is true no matter the price tag.( you can still pay thousands on a veneer covered, solid wood door)
so be VERY carefull when sanding as to not sand through a veneer.
2nd-

SEA THIN TEAK OIL!!
it is absolulty the best product you can put on a wood door that will be out in the weather. any teak oil will be good, but sea thin teak oil is the beat.

lay the door on some saw horses, dump the oil on the door, and hand rub it in. rub in in good! then simply take a sataining sponge and wipe off the excess. let it dry, flip the door, do it again. no runs when you lay it flat, the drawback is it takes 3 days to finsh the door, but it will be done perfectly, and as high quality as you could ever pay for.

 

[RELH]

I quit using wood exterior doors years ago due too they require constant maintance to keep looking good. We went to fiberglass exterior doors and my wife did the staining on it and everyone swears it is a solid oak door and do not believe it is fiberglass. It even had a wood grain pattern in the exterior finish of the fiberglass that pops out with the staining.

RELH

 

[sageadvice]

Make sure that you seal both sides of the door at the same time. Nothing warps a door faster than sealing one side but not the other. Sounds funny but i've seen it not done that way for various reasons and that can wreck a door.

Back when i was a full time painter, we used to use Marine Ultra Spar Varnish on front doors. It was a good product, maybe there's better out there, but it was pretty good.

Joey

 

[one_dryboot]

Marine spar urethane is a good product and I use it on alot of exteriors. But you have to put multiple light coats on because it runs like no other and takes hours to dry. I'm a fan of fiberglass but its all the same to me.

 

[TETRA]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-22-11 AT 10:03PM (MST)[p]Thanks for all the advice guys...Lowe's called around 2 today and said the door was in...must have had one somewhere in town!!

Its a nice little door that only cost 281.60!!!




We also priced others that were twice to three times as much...now the work begains..in the end we hope it looks something like the door I made last summer for are shed!!

THANKS AGAIN...

 

[300wbymann]

i cant stress enough, SEA-THIN TEAK OIL.

IT TAKES 90% OF YOUR "YEARLY MAINTENENCE" AWAY.

fiberglass is good too, but if your in the construction trade, they dont look real. it's kinda like "pergo" flooring. alot of homeowners love it because it looks exactly the same, most every body in the trade knows it's fake.

if done right, a wood door is still the nicest door you can buy.

anything other than the teak oil, and you will be wishing you bought a fiberglass door.

 

[mtmuley]

I gotta second the teak oil. Makes a beautiful finish. Sage's advice is right on, but don't forget to seal the top of the door, and the bottom around the threshhold seal also. Hard to believe, failure to do this can also cause warping. I've seen some gel-coated fiberglass doors that look real at a glance, but it seems like building these days has too much "non-wood". Take care of it and it will last a very long time. mtmuley

 

[TETRA]

I hear you 300... But we got this red wood thing going on over here...this door is the door that goes from the dog run into the garage...and we are trying to match the fence and the door that is on the shed...I also hear what your saying about fiberglass, twice the price and does not look as good..

 

[kilowatt]

Ray,
Go back to your saved picture/s and get rid of these marks at the end around the <1>......that is your problem on why they won't post.
http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/9043img08094<1>.jpg

just insert an "a" etc instead and it should work.

Brian
http://i25.tinypic.com/fxbjgy.jpg[/IMG]