Front door refinishing questions

[sammyg2]

My front door is 42" x 80", solid wood and is a quality piece but after 50 years, the finish is starting to peel away in spots and it's getting cloudy.
A badly adjusted sprinkler was hitting it last year for a while and that didn't help.
Not sure of the finish but it's really thick like a urethane. At least 1/64" thick.
New doors that size and quality run in the thousands, so I wanna save it but have no clue how to strip off the old finish without screwing up the door.
Heck I'd even pay to have that done if I knew a pro.

Any thoughts?

[GH85Carrera]

We did the one on our old house. We stripped it down with a sander. Both a belt sander and a hand size vibrating sander. Then hit is with new stain, and Marine Spar Varnish. That was 25 years ago and in Oklahoma. You will likely have to smuggle in a good grade of Spar Varnish into California.

[sammyg2]

I was thinking of sanding it down, but the door has 5 recessed panels and a stained glass insert, and I don't think I can sand down in those details.
Or if I did it'd take a month of Sundays.
And if I used a chemical stripper I don't know if i'd ever get it out of the wood.

Kinda like this sort of thing only more so:

[RWebb]

profile sander?

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by RWebb

profile sander?

Don't know what that is, gotta go find out.
Why are you always giving me homework?

[1990C4S]

If you find a compatible top coat there's no need to remove the existing basecoat everywhere.

Water sand locally, scuff everything, and put two new coats on top.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Don't know what that is, gotta go find out.
Why are you always giving me homework?

just trying to keep you off the streets and out of trouble

it's a kinda/sorta random orbit that has a bunch of different ... um profiles for the sand paper part

also...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyczcU6qdVE


the real question is which stain will last a long time - I have the same issue on a S facing door that also gets rain in winter

[Steve Carlton]

Zeke would know, right?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

Zeke would know, right?

Yes, I've done quite a few w/o stripping. The upper parts of entry doors never seem to get the sun and other deteriorating factors like the bottom 4th or so. It all depends on the condition when starting. If the bottom is completely open to bare wood, some graying and maybe mold discoloration must be addressed. Oxalic acid usually cleans this up quickly.

If I was doing a job 20 miles away, I needed to hurry up and do it all in one day. Sam doesn't need to take that route — he has time to let the acid wash completely dry out before proceeding.

Next step is to sand and blend the surface and see what needs to be done if the color of the lower part of the door doesn't look like the good part. I use a fast dry sealer over any bare wood and then use toners to blend colors to match. If it's a yellowed varnish look then some amber shellac will bring it around and make it look a bit aged. After that it's a couple coats of high quality acrylic polyurethane first on the repair and then the whole door.

That's the short version. Took me 20 years to perfect the process. Lots of cleaning and preparation of old surfaces involved which can be done while waiting for things to dry down below.

Nothing beats taking the door down and doing this off site and many do. The thing is, they get as much for that as a mid line new prefinished door costs.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Don't know what that is, gotta go find out.
Why are you always giving me homework?

Steel wool is the best 'profile sander'.

You also need a box full of various scrapers and picks.

Oh, and I've been known to use an airbrush while toning.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

after 50 years, the finish is starting to peel away in spots

I've never had success in getting new wood stain/finish to blend with an existing finish.
The color and tone have been perfect, but then a day later it soaks in. Everything changes.

The only solution is to strip everything on top and sand to wood imo.
Or paint.

[mattdavis11]

I have never done a door, but have done several persimmon headed golf clubs. Remove finish, raise the grain, sand, raise it again, steel wool and stain. Finish with polyurethane.

[sammyg2]

I'll put up some pics later this week of what we're up against.
I'm tempted to make a temporary door (painted brown) and take this door down and make a project out of it. I know if I rush it or try to do it in place I won't be happy with the result.

Getting the old finish will be the toughest part, I'll take Zeke's input and see if I can spot repair and blend.
Past experience has taught me that I'm not that good at stuff like this but maybe this time will be different

For a long time I could just wipe old English furniture polish on it (dark brown) and it'd look good for several months, but now the varnish has started peeling and there's no covering that up.

[GH85Carrera]

At our old house we had a door that faced the East. It received full sun from dawn until noon. We put on a glass storm door and that helped keep the weather off of it, but the sun is the real killer. The door still looked great when we sold the place. Now our front door is on the north, and there has been a glass storm door in place since day one.

[Evans, Marv]

I have a similar problem with my front door, which is suffering from west facing sun exposure in late afternoons. Like Milt says, the bottom less than a quarter is bad with the rest in good shape. Some of the panels started separating before I got to it, & I tried to fill one of them with wood filler followed by steel wool, wiping with stain, & spar urethane. It was supposed take a stain but didn't & now I'm unsure how to go about fixing it.

[sammyg2]

That's a shame that it's gotten that bad, but it makes mine seem no so daunting. Still looks fixable in the right hands but I don't know who that would be.
My door doesn't see direct sunlight ever, just the occasional sprinkler.

I can't believe the prices I'm seeing for new doors, the cheep ugly ones I wouldn't want on my house are around $1300 and they go up really quick from there.

[Zeke]

Marv, that can be fixed. I'm busy today but I'll bet back to you.

john70t, you're problem might be because you skipped my sealing of the wood before any staining or toning.

If any of you are familiar with faux graining that's the direction these repairs take. Restore the background color and add highlights. No 2 jobs alike.

[john70t]

Ah, yes. This part.

Originally Posted by Zeke

Next step is to sand and blend the surface and see what needs to be done if the color of the lower part of the door doesn't look like the good part. I use a fast dry sealer over any bare wood and then use toners to blend colors to match.

[Evans, Marv]

I'm definitely interested in trying anything to fix the problem. It's a double door, & the other side has a bit of the same problem but not as bad as the left side. I requested a covering of spar urethane when they were built, but I suspect that never happened.

[DanielDudley]

I fill cracks like that with 10 minute epoxy, which you can add universal tint to. it sands flush, but it isn't UV resistant, so you need to put the finish on it soon after you prep.