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From Workbench MagazineAll rights reserved

page 1 of 2 ©2004 August Home PublishingOne copy for personal use. Other copies prohibited.

Plans N O Ww w w . p l a n s n o w . c o m

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One of the most durable fin-ishes you can use for anexterior door is a high-

solids alkyd finish.This type of finishis more flexible than spar varnish, soit moves with the wood as itexpands and contracts rather thanflaking or chipping off.

Surface Preparation — Althoughit’s extremely durable,an alkyd finishwon’t last without proper surfacepreparation.That starts with scrapingas much of the old finish from thedoor as possible. Carbide-tippedscrapers do an effective job ofremoving finish without gouging thewood (Fig.1).A detail scraper worksgood for corners.

Once you’ve scraped off as muchof the finish as possible, the nextstep is to sand with 60-grit sand-paper. Most of the sanding can behandled with a random-orbit sander(Fig. 2), but a sanding block helpsin the edges and corners.

Weather Marks — Even aftersanding, the door may have graystreaks from weathering. What Ifound worked best for removing thesewas a two-part Teak Cleaner andBrightener system that I purchasedfrom a marine supply company.

Before you use Teak Cleaner,you’llwant to take a few precautions.First,test the cleaner on an inconspicuousarea to make sure it will be effectivewithout doing damage to the wood.Also, the cleaner is okay to use on atight-grained hardwood like your oakdoor, but you wouldn’t want to useit on a softwood such as cedar, as itcould damage the fibers. For cedarand other softwoods, try a differentwood cleaner,such as oxalic acid (alsoknown as wood bleach) or TrisodiumPhosphate ( TSP).

{ For quick removal, use carbidescrapers to remove as much of the finishas possible (see Sources, page 2).

{ After scraping, remove the rest of thefinish from the wood by using 60-gritsandpaper on a random-orbit sander.

1 2

{ To remove the gray weather marks,scrub on a 20-percent solution of TeakCleaner and water, and then rinse.

{ This Teak Cleaner darkens the wood,so I also scrubbed Teak Brightener intothe wood to restore the natural color.

3 4

weatherproofDOOR FINISH

With theseprecautions inmind, brush thecleaner on witha foam brush,and scrub it intothe pores with aplastic bristle brush (Fig. 3). Thenuse a sponge and several water rinsesto remove the cleaner. The TeakCleaner darkens the wood, so followup with the Teak Brightener tobring it back to its original color.Here again, brush the brighteneron, scrub it in (Fig.4), and then rinse

it off several times with water.After allowing the wood to dry

for three days, follow up withanother round of sanding with100-grit and then 150-grit sand-paper to smooth the wood.Thenyou’re ready to apply the finish(see page 2).

{ To get the longest-lasting exterior finish, I chose a high-solidsalkyd finish from Sikkens. It can withstand three to four yearsof exposure to harsh weather without needing another coat.

From Workbench MagazineAll rights reserved

page 2 of 2 ©2004 August Home PublishingOne copy for personal use. Other copies prohibited.

tips for applying AN ALKYD FINISH

{ Iron oxide pigments make alkydfinishes (left) darker than sparvarnish (right). { Three coats of alkyd finish are needed, and each coat of colored finish darkens

wood more than the coat before. It’s best to use a colored finish first, followedwith clear finish on top. Use test pieces to achieve a color combination you like.

{ Since Sikkens goes on thicker in someareas than others, use wide strokes ata 45° angle to “tip off” the finish.

PRODUCTS WE USED

SCRAPERSBahco Carbide ScrapersRockler 800-279-4441; www.Rockler.com

WOOD CLEANERSTeak Cleaner & Brightener 800-783-7507; www.NauticalEase.com

DAP Wood Bleach (Oxalic Acid)888-327-8477; www.DAP.com

Savogran TSP & TSP-PF (TrisodiumPhosphate & Phosphate-Free)800-225-9872; www.Savogran.com

SIKKENS FINISHCetol Door & Window (“Natural”first coat & two “Clear Satin” top coats)866-745-5367; www.Nam.Sikkens.com

Outdoor projects have a lot of ene-mies, like extremes of temperature andchanging humidity levels. As a result,wood expands and contracts more out-doors than indoors,causing the finish tolose its bond.And sunlight further con-tributes to finish losing its grip onwood, as well as causing it to fade.

The Sikkens Solution — One finishthat’s specially formulated to handle allthese challenges is Cetol Door &Window,which is manufactured by theSikkens Company. It’s available in fourcolors, along with satin and gloss clearfinishes, for around $20 a quart.

As I mentioned earlier, this finish is ahigh-solids alkyd resin finish.This for-mulation is flexible, so it moves withwood as it expands and contracts.Andthe finish also has iron oxide pigmentsthat block UV rays. (These rays make afinish lose its bond with wood.) Theresult is a durable finish that can lastthree to four years without any need ofrefinishing.

These iron oxide pigments make thefinish look a good deal darker than sparvarnish (Photo, below left).Even so,you’llfind that the clear alkyd finish has theappearance of a standard clear coat onceapplied.

On the other hand, each subsequentcoat of colored finish will darken thewood more than the coat before.As aresult, a combination of colored coatsfollowed by clear coats is the bestapproach to getting the look you wantfrom three coats of finish (the requirednumber of coats). To make sure youget it right, try some test pieces first(Photo, below right).

Applying Finish — As you start toapply this finish,you’ll notice it’s heavy-bodied, almost like a paint.This makesproper brushing technique very impor-tant. Put on an even coat with a nat-ural-bristle brush, and hold your brushat a 45° angle to “tip off ” the surfaceas you apply it (Photo, above).Then,onceyou’re satisfied with the look of thefirst coat, wait 24 hours between sub-sequent coats.