Thank you paintguy. I appreciate your insight and will pass along the information to my husband.

Paintguy: Can I get your advice on a similar question? We live in Arizona, have a 5 year old home with a south facing front door which fiberglass (I believe it is...it's not steel and not wood, so it must be fiberglass). We don't do storm doors in this area, so this has been exposed to sun. I want to spruce up the outside of the door to get it to look as good as the inside; the stain is faded and it needs a sealer of some sort. Can you tell me exactly which product(s) to look for? I'd attach a photo, but I'm not sure how to do that on this forum. Thanks!

I would recommend Sikkens Cetol Door and Window in satin. If you can't find that, then some Minwax Helmsman Marine Varnish (may also be called Spar Urethane) would work. Two coats minimum, I would do three. By the way, a storm door would probably degrade the door faster because the glass would magnify the sun so it's good that you don't have one.

Thanks...one last question: would that give a glossy finish? We want more of a satin type finish.

Yes, I said Cetol Door and Window in satin. It also comes in gloss. I prefer the satin too.

PG's advice is HUGE here....

STAY AHEAD of the Sun's degradation with yearly (maybe every-other) maintenance coat(s) of a Spar-Varnish/Poly.

* At our store, Sikkens Door & Window is our 1st choice for customers.
* 2nd choice is ZAR's Exterior Poly's.
* I'd consider a storm-door though...the more crap you can keep off your main door, the better.
* Consider a style that has a lower-screen panel insert. Ours is a detachable glass main panel, that has a screened-frame-panel for summer use, when I take out the glass panel. This is the upper 85% of the screen-door.
* It's also got a 6"x2' lower glass panel-insert that I remove in the summer.
* With a door like this, you could have a glass-panel for the upper main portion, and have the bottom rectangle as your vented/screened area; or, just use both screen-panels.

Faron

PaintGuy and Faron,
I have some farm buildings (large barn, etc) with peeling paint. After good prep, what would you use? Thought a stain might be easier long term & was thinking either SW Woodscapes exterior stain or Zar exterior stain. Is this the way to go? and if so, which is better--the SW or Zar (or something else?)
Many thanks.
pschuster

Sikkens Solid-Oil Siding-finish is a good one. It's been discontinued however...
in favor of the "Greener" Oil/Latex Hybrid called "Rubbol Siding Finish". Don't be scared of this tho...it's very good!
>>> See Sikkens link below...

There may be some of the Solid-Oil in the pipeline yet. We still have some anyway!

Faron

Here is a link that might be useful: Sikkens Rubbol Siding link....

The oils are a dying breed. I can't get Fresh Start oil based primer or C2's oil based primer in anything but quarts from my supplier here in Illinois. If I had a barn to prep/paint, I think I would be in trouble because I would need to use CoverStain as my primer which isn't the best unless I wanted to buy 50 quarts. It is true that a 100 percent acrlyic stain would probably be best for a barn because it will not peel like a paint. The Rubbol is good, and I also like C2's stain, BM's Super Spec stain and my favorite is probably Maxum 2 by Coronado. I have never used Woodscapes except for the semi, but I'm sure it is comparable if it is their premium stain and it is 100 percent acrylic.

Paintguy: help! We're using Spar Urethane (satin) as you mentioned...the first coat went on fine, but what are the gummy little bits showing up when we're applying the second coat? It said to wait 4 hours to apply the second coat and we may have rushed that a bit, but the door felt dry, so we went ahead. We've stopped the job, so it's not too much of a mess---yet.
Thanks.

Yep, it sounds like the first coat was not dry. Also, do not apply the product in direct sunlight and work in sections so that you are not pulling at areas that have already started to set. I usually let each coat dry overnight.

Thanks! Will let dry overnight and try again in the a.m. when it's still cool outside. It may take us three days to get three coats on the door, but it will probably be worth it.

Paintguy and Faron - you two are such a valuable resource - you've helped me as a lurker more times than you know!

I just have a quick follow-up question on this. I have a stained fiberglass door that was just installed last year. It is under a covered porch, but the very bottom of the door does get some direct sun in the mornings.

Last week I put two coats of the sealer on it from Therma-Tru that came with the door.

Are the products that you are recommending better than the stuff from Therma-Tru?

And, are more coats of sealer better? Putting on a few coats every year isn't a big deal to me...but I don't know how much is too much?

The door looks great right now - the sealer really did enhance the look - and I want to keep it looking good.

Thank you!

Patrice,
Thanks for your kind note!

Since your door has little sun, a "maintenance coat or 2" may only be necessary every 3rd or 4th year.

If ya want some top-notch stuff, check out the FPE varnishes!

Faron

Here is a link that might be useful: FPE Varnishes...

I don't know about the durability of the stuff that comes with the Therma Tru kits. I have heard good things, but I am still leery of using a water based finish outside. That's why I still go with Sikkens.

Thanks so much to both of you for the response.

Because of Faron, I understand a little bit more about color choices...and because of PaintGuy, I can almost paint a passable straight line at my wall-ceiling juncture.

So as someone who usually just lurks, I needed to say thank you!!

Paintguy is right. Here's my story.

Too late to help now but maybe someone else will benefit. I gel stained my Pella fiberglass entry door 6.5 years ago and it looked great! Used Minwax gel stain and their spar varnish, as directed by Pella. However, it did not stand up to weather at all. It chipped and had to be varnished again every 6 months. This Spring it chipped all the way through to the fiberglass and pulled stain with it! Believe me, I did everything properly. My door faces south east and has no roof. But a neighbor whose fiberglass door faces north had the same trouble - he used the same products as I.
My neighbor got disgusted and stripped his down to fiberglass and restained it with Sikkens products 3 years ago. No trouble since. Sikkens makes a Door and Window stain that does not require varnish over top.
Fortunately for me, just before I started stripping about 36 layers of varnish off my door, it delaminated! Pella brought me a new unfinished slab (under warranty) and I'm using Sikkens to stain it.

I've been told the varnish is the trouble. It's like putting a sheet of glass against the door, trapping the heat. Plus it isn't flexible enough to expand and contract. If I put up a storm door to protect it, the problem would've been worse due to trapped heat. Sikkens is specifically made for fiberglass doors. I don't have any vested interests in the company but thought I'd try to help the next guy...

Here is a link that might be useful: Sikkens Door and Window stain

I have the same problem Fiberglass Front Entry door peeling after three years from sun and wear on the original Gel stain. Do I need to strip all the gel off prior to using Sikkens or just use a primer primer and if so any recommendations? Have others found the Sikkens needs a maintenance coat every few years? Thanks.

Sometimes you can just lightly sand the doors, remove the peeling stain and then go over that with a fresh stain to sort of freshen it up, but this takes some finessing and may not be easy for a DIY to tackle. Sometimes though the stain has degraded too much and the door needs to be stripped completely.

If I decide to go the paint route vs restaining would the strip also be recommended or just put a primer over it? Also any suggestions on paint or technique to get something somewhat similar to a stain look. I like the look but don't want to go through restaining every two years. Thanks.

Peter, you need to strip all the old varnish for sure before painting or it will flake off. If you're going to use Sikkens you also need to strip the old gel stain to get a good result. It can be done but will be a pita. Yes, Sikkens requires a renewal coat every three years or so but it does not flake off like varnish. Good luck on this. I have a neighbor who stripped his door of varnish and gel stain before refinishing with Sikkens and it looks fabulous. Fiberglass door.

The every three years renewal coat goes easy and is definitely worth it. You'll find you need to repaint about as often anyway.

It would be better to strip the varnish off, but it's not required if you are going to paint it.

Hello,

i just found this website. I got a new fiberglass front door. I live in the coastal area of Alabama. We have extreme humidity and hot temps. My door faces SW. It has a covered porch. I like the idea of staining it. But if painting will be considerably less maintenance perhaps I should consider. Where is the Sikken product sold? What paint would you recommend. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ,

Debbie