Refinishing Exterior Oak Door

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4
Hi,

I have just taken a week vacation to refinish my front door, and have run into several issues. I have some questions and would greatly appreciate your advice so I can remove this from my honey do list.

How can I correct the below issues please?

Splintered wood corrected using wood filler with wood. sanded down, and now stain not consistent IMG 8366 before, IMG 8377 after

Darkness in wood that won't go away in upper left corner (IMG 8357)

I have applied 2 coats of Minwax stain and still have white discoloration in center between panels (8375)

My wife wants a darker color. Do I have to sand with 220 for adhesion before applying darker color since only 2nd coat of stain, and no Helmsman Spar Urethane applied yet?

Thank you so much for your help.

Lawrence

:dunno:
 

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Thanks for your response, but how do I address those below issues?

I have applied 2 coats of Minwax stain and still have white discoloration in center between panels (8375).

My wife wants a darker color. Do I have to sand with 220 for adhesion before applying darker color since only 2nd coat of stain, and no Helmsman Spar Urethane applied yet
 
Hi Lawrence, and welcome to the forum. :wave: I've got a similar door that needs refinishing. It's not quite as weathered as the one you're working on, but it's on its way to being there.

Did you sand or strip the varnish off the door before applying the Minwax stain? That might explain the "white discoloration" issue in photo 8375. From here, the lighter spots look like places that are not soaking up any stain, possibly because there's varnish preventing it from happening.

What type (and color) of wood filler did you use to patch the area in photo 8377? Some types of filler don't absorb stain. I ran into the problem fixing a ding on my door a few years ago, and ended up using permanent ink markers (Sharpies) in a variety of colors to come up with the reasonable match to the surrounding areas.

Regarding the question about sanding before adding more stain, if all the varnish was indeed removed before your first couple coats of stain, then I don't think sanding will be necessary before adding more stain. If there is still old varnish on the door, then I'd sand it some more before staining.
 
Hi Vaughn,

I stripped with Bix, and was unsuccessful in some areas, so I then took it all down to bare wood with a multi-tool, sanded with 120, then 220, so all of the stain and varnish was removed.

I used Elmers Stainable Wood Filler, and then used Minwax oil Stain in 8377. I am really at a loss of what to do about this issue. Someone I know suggested mixing the wood filler with the stain and then applying. What do you think?

I am not able to explain why the white showed up in 8375, as I re-sanded when I saw it, and it still wouldn't come out.

Dave suggested wood bleach in 8357, which I have never used. That would be great if that solved the dark color issue.

I uploaded 2 pics to show the result of sanding prior to the first stain application.

Thanks again for your input folks.
 

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Lawrence,

Looks to me like there was still varnish on the wood in the last pix. If you had gotten it all off, from my experience in refinishing, you would have had a more even, lighter color of the wood, (like the portion above the lockset holes is).

Just my opinion. Dave, how close is my guess?

Aloha, Tony
 
Tony, from what I see you are spot on their buddy. Get a sanding block and wrap 100 grit paper with it and sand the snot out of the door, then use 220 grt. Sand till you don't see any white the sun bleaching of the door is what is giving you the discoloration. Plus you have a little cross grain issue to deal with that con only be resolved when sealing and sanding between coats.
If I were you I'd take the door off and sand it on a set of saw horses. You'll get a better job sanding and staining and finishing. When you stand see if you can get a gel wiping stand, the gels cover better when applying by hand and are user friendly. Try to stay away from orbital sanders they will only great problems for ya. a Square palm sander is good. But I like sanding by had.

After you get it all sanded you can use a stain able wood puddy in the cracks at the bottoms, I still like to take a yellow ocker color acrylic paint to cover the puddy and then stain. Then the stain will even thing out.
After staining you want to apply at least 3 coats of sealer before you stain. This is so you do not sand through the the stain. Use 320 to sand sealer with a sanding sponge pad and 320 gt paper raped around it. I usually cut the sanding pad in half. This will fit your hand better 1/8 sheet piece of paper.
 
Hi Lawrence , welcome to the forum.

I dont know zip about finishing, but i do know Dave is the resident finisher and what Vaughn and Tony are saying is well sad to say true.

This honey do job is no quicky if you looking for a good job and not one you want to do again next year.

You have varnish left over in those picks.

There aint no easy way out, my advice would start again and listen to uncle Dave. You gonna have to get your back into it.:rofl:

I would go like heck at it and then post pics of close up before you touch it.
Listen to the guys here and you will have a great door.:thumb:
 
Thanks for the input, but I am a novice at this, so let me clarify a few things.

Since I only have 2 coats of varnish, I use the 100 and then final sand down using 220. If, the darkness in the sidelight remains, then use a wood bleach to even the color out. I was concerned about sanding more as I was concerned it may just be a veneer, but I guess that is not the case? How can you visually tell or can you?

I'm not familiar with this. Where do I get below if not at a big box store?
yellow ocker color acrylic paint to cover the puddy and then stain.

Someone I know suggested mixing the wood filler with the stain and then applying. What do you think?

If I stain only a portion where the issues were, will it match the rest of the door, or do I have to take all of it off and re-stain?

What spar do you suggest to use?

Thanks
 
LM , I would stand everything to the color you want 1st. Then before you apply any clear coat do your touch color to match. You can use acrylic artist colors [yellow oxide] as a base color and then mix a little stain in the clear coat and brush on to match. You will need to let the touch up dry before you clear coat the rest. Hope this helps. BTW if the clear coat is oil base you will need oil stain to make the match. but if you useing a acrylic stain and clear coat you will be fine.
 
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