exterior door preparation

[P.A.Osborne]

Ignorant question time ahead!

Fairly soon I need to revarnish my front door, when taking a close look at it I noticed that the bottom edge of the door appears to be unvarnished or treated in any way.

To be honest this seems a bit odd though to be honest this may be OK for all I know.

So do I leave the door and just varnish what is visible as it appears the previous owner has down, or do I take the door down and slap on umpteen coats of varnish underneath and so seal it?

Cheers

Paul

[Stuart Noble]

Everybody forgets the most vulnerable part of the door. I use candle wax because it is 100% hydrophobic, and stays that way.

[P.A.Osborne]

Thats good because in this instance it wasn't me! Have only been in the place four months. :-)

Hmmmm I now have a way to dispose of some of the wifes smelly candles...

Paul

[Mike D]

I hope someone answers this. I am about to fit a band new hardwood front door, and would like to know the best way to finish it, with a view to durability and long-lasting good looks. In my case, it will only receive about 30 minutes of (morning) sunshine per day, which I'm glad about. Loads of hot sunshine seems to degrade wood finishes faster than most things, IME.

Mike

[Stuart Noble]

For moisture protection the edges (and particularly the bottom edge) of the door is really all you have to worry about. Good looks is more difficult. Anything transparent allows the wood to discolour, whether in direct sunlight or not. Semi-opaque stains/varnishes are better but a bit too bright for my taste. They also tend to come off in patches which means the whole door has to be stripped and re-finished. I'd paint the bugger

[Mike D]

Thanks. Interesting subject. It strikes me as a shame to paint over nice-looking hardwood, but I can see the advantages from a maintenance POV. However, if I paint it, the next buyer will no doubt assume that the door is cheap softwood.

I can remember seeing old hardwood yacht hulls that were coated with varnish, yet the wood had retained a nice colour. I wonder what kind of varnish they used... "yacht varnish", perhaps!

I'll be fitting my door to an existing white-painted frame, so perhaps it will look wrong unless I paint the door white, to match. Anyone agree? Does a varnished front door look out of place when fitted in a white frame?

Mike

[Stuart Noble]

AFAIK that just protects against salt so, unless you live by the sea, no point in paying the extra. By definition I assume there's no such a thing as a transparent uv filter, which is what is needed.