Need advise on refinishing front doors

I do mine once a year. The first time, I took them off along with all of the hardware and did the same thing you described. I used 2 coats of MAN O'WAR Spar Varnish. It is a pretty strong coating, If your doors get a lot of sun, then i recommend you put a third coat, and just lightly sand and add another coat or 2 each year. I did not get a chance to do them last year, so they have to be taken down again this spring. My doors are made of Spanish Moss. Here is link to the varnish. Spar Varnish

The spar varnish is designed for direct sunlight. Being that it is for the spar of a sailing vessel which gets put through some pretty harsh conditions, I think it is one of the best varnishes out there to use. Hope this helps.

Failure rates of man o war versus Minwax is about the same. We could never find a good formulation so I eventually had a chemical company create our own finish. Use oil based spar and stains. The key is the thickness of your topcoats. 3 wet mils minimum but I usually go thicker when spraying doors. Also best protection using satin. Glossy doesn’t protect as much.

Also you don’t need to wait over night. I got a ton of techniques that you can refinish a door in four hours and rehang which depending on which way your door faces will last anywhere from 1 to 3 years without having to refinish, just topcoat with tinted spar.

First question: What sort of moisture exposure do your front doors get? If you see some sort of discoloration to the wood and / or difference of how the finish is wearing around the lower area [where the weather tends to have more impact], seriously consider using a marine varnish.

You are going to want to take all of the finish off if staining. Do you have a random orbit sander? Might be worth purchasing one. It doesn't leave any swirl marks and you will be much more proud of the outcome of your work.

What type of wood are your doors? Depending upon the wood, stains can have a tendency to blotch. If you are working with woods like Cherry, take the time to use a sanding sealer and maybe even some shellac between coast of stain before applying the varnish.

After you are absolutely positively certain the stain is where you want it to be, think about a coat or two of a spray varnish [if the humidity isn't horrible] before applying the finish.

There's a finish called a French polish which actually uses a combination of linseed oil, mineral spirits and [usually] shellac, but this has been advanced to using with marine varnish for an almost fault free method of applying your finish. Here's an article on how it works with boats. LINK /

Check out Fine Woodworking's articles on creating the pad to accomplish the same. It may take a few more coats going this way, but you'll be the star of the neighborhood with your results.

Cheers!

I did this several times on a east facing door that the sun beat on.

30 min on leaving the stain might be long. The longer it is before wiping, the darker the stain and the less you see the grain.

Marine finish only, spar is an excellent idea.

Exterior stain is usually thicker and covers mire than penetrates, thin deck. Personally for a front door where viewing is a prime purpose, if use a good interior stain. The spar finish will protect it.

The sealer in the stain dries quickly, but don’t count that as a finish layer. Still cover with spar.

I liked denatured alcohol between spar layers after light sanding. Picks up dust and dried instantly. The roughing of the surface makes the layers of finish adhere better.

By the way, I had people walking in the neighborhood complement the front door all the time.

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How would I do that.

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Do some homework. When I was in the paint biz (10+ years ago), the Woodscapes line by Sherwin could take a topcoat, and was a great product. I doubt if you could get a decent recommendation from Lowe's or HD. A legit paint store would be your best bet. Generally speaking, if the surface you are coating is free of wax, dirt, etc., and prepped it can be coated. An important thing to remember, and what I would tell clients, is that once you clear-coat an exterior surface, maintenance instantly becomes an issue

Although I haven't tried it yet, this is what I will be using to refinish my doors.

LINK

If you want to waste money go ahead. That product is hard to apply, it’s pricey, and in our finish tests it only faired a little better.

I know this because I tested a bunch of different brand finishes and finish plus stain combos at an outdoor testing facility in Arizona. Each one will give you about the same level of protection depending on what elements the door is in.

Key is applying minimum amount of mills, make sure it’s an oil “spar”, and use satin or semi gloss. No offense to the other folks in here but most of the advice you’ll get from woodworkers and painters will have you going down rabbit holes, doing extra work, spending more money, etc.