Restoring external silky oak doors

My house has a set of solid timber silky oak doors that are about 30 years old. They have old glass panels that need replacement, and the varnish on the doors are peeling off. The doors face the west in the tropics, and are exposed to the weather.

Can anyone please advise the best way to restore these doors. I have been strongly advised against dipping the doors, as the colour of the timber disappears.

I intend to put modern glass panels, and coat the doors with marine varnish as the final coats.

I would welcome any suggestions and ideas on restoring the timber to its original beauty, and links to previous similiar problems

kind regards,
Jill

JillB,

There is no short way, but this is what I have done.

An old chisel - about half inch - and gentle tapping witha hammer is about the best way to get the putty and the old glass out. It takes quite a while, but it does work.

Sand off as much of the old varnish/paint as you can and then for the tricky bits, paint stripper, make sure you use protective gear, and then, if you have acess to one a high pressure water blaster. You may have to do this a few times.

Let it all dry for a good week or so then sand back to a minimum 240. Obviously the higher you go the better the finish.

As regards to marine varnish - I would not use it. Have used it on external doors her in Brisbane that copped a fair bit of sun - 3 years.

Have used a Sikkens product since ten, they have afew. Get on to their website and have a look at what best suits your application. Our front door has now had this product on 18 years, and the doors that cop the sun it lasts about 9-10 years

Works for me

Regards

Jillb,

Having lived in the tropics as well as further south, doors that are exposed to the sun like yours will always end up in trouble. I would strongly recommend building some sort of varandah to protect your doors from the sun and rain. Love Silky Oak... should look really nice when you finish.


I agree with Collin, marine varnish will not last. I have a nice wooden letterbox made by my son here in Melbourne. Marine varnish barely lasts a year! even less if the birds drop their "presents" on it.

My front door is a nice wooden one with a stained glass panel. I put it in 16 years ago and it is still in excellent condition.... The previous one failed a lot sooner. The difference is I built a roof over my front entrance to keep the weather out.
Good luck with it all,

Chipman:U:U

I have a solution, ship it to me and I will place it in a North (non-tropic) location and send you my crappy steel door to withstand your weather.

UV rays are the killer here, Use a finish with UV block (if they can make it for your skin why can't they make it for finish?) I think there are some out there. perhaps U-Beaut knows of one. :2tsup:

Thanks everyone. Colin, I appreciate the advice on how to go about it. I have never heard of the water blaster treatment before.
Looks like I have a heavy job ahead of me, but I need to do it before August when it starts to get too hot. Will try and borrow a belt sander and water blaster.

Will look into suitable shade trees to protect from the western sun too

kind regards,

Jill

I had to remove a lot of putty from some windows a few years ago

I used my router with a straight bit to remove most of it, worked a treat. be aware that bufore puttying up glaziers use a small nail or pin to hold the pane of glass in place. Not a good idea to rout this:no:

find the location of the pins with a metal detector or as I did a small magnetic compass (pass the compass over the putty, when it comes across the nails it should deflect a little)

good luck

oooo...! that is a trap for beginners - thanks for the warning about the nails

kind regards,
Jill

There is a tool out there called a "putty chaser" that attaches to your drill and it grinds out the old putty w/o damage to the sash (or in your case the door) or the glass. Here is one listed on Amazon, but I'm sure there are others available in your local tool stores. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Prazi-USA-PR9000-Putty-Chaser/dp/B0000224S8"]Amazon.com: Prazi USA PR9000 Putty Chaser: Home Improvement[/ame]

Hi Jill,
Nothing easy about removing paint and varnish. I have done lots of this work. I use a sandvik triangle scraper and belt sand paper cut into strips. (belt sander on big flat surfaces) It's tough stuff so you can hold it and get into nooks and crannies. 40 grit for the first sand, but beware cos it can scratch, then quickly down the grits.
For corners I use a sharp chisel, then hand sand into the corner.

Slow I know, but fab results. I have now added a good quality 1/4 sheet sander to my armoury.

Finishing for external - Sikkens. Seems to last well and only requires a light sand in future and recoat.

If you get it off now, the future is better, cos the sun gets to everything.

Cheers
conwood