Sealing natural finished exterior doors
Hello All,
We are considering making wood screen doors for our home, as high quality aluminum screen doors don’t seem to be available. Also, having been a woodworker for 45 years I really prefer the look of a natural wood door.
We live in Fort Bragg, CA, a mile from the ocean, and have gotten 45 inches of rain so far this rainy season. Needless to say, exterior doors like to rot in this climate.
I have used WEST system epoxy as a wood sealant in boat building, and am wondering if anyone has had experience in using it as an architectural material. I would use their recommended spar varnish over the epoxy undercoat, as epoxy deteriorates with exposure to UV.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.
Cheers,
Brian Burns
Replies
Greetings Brian, As a first time poster Welcome to Breaktime.
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.
There are a number of experienced finish craftmen that read here and should be able to help with advice.
Seeing you are new here you might not be aware of the archive listings of old BT threads where you might find some interesting info.
If you scroll down in the lower left corner of your screen there is a search function that will take you to previous threads dealing with whatever you type in the search bar.
If you type in 'West system epoxy' or other keywords of the subject matter you'll get a supply of data from those old threads.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
bump
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Might be worth your effort to search the web for a finisher's forum and repost your question there.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
or put in a call to this guy...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
If you've used it before with success than there is no reason why you cannot use it on you're doors.
Personally I would use a solvent based penetrating epoxy such as SP systems eposeal 300 as these are designed specifically as a sealer/primer.
I think that the cost of West system will probably put most people off using it on their houses. I used eposeal primer system on my varnished front door, but then again I do keep at least 5 liters in stock.
Duncan Miller boatbuilder/joiner
Edited 4/15/2006 8:56 pm ET by limeyjoiner
Yes, West System will work fine as long as you protect it from UV by coating it with your choice of opaque product. I would use a lighter color on top to keep the epoxy from getting excessively hot.
DG/Builder
Edited 4/16/2006 2:40 am ET by dgbldr
Hi Guys,Thanks for the replies to my question about sealing exterior doors. I got a copy of WEST's finishing bulletin, and also talked to one of their tech advisers. The finishing bulletin specifically recommends against using any thinner with their epoxy, and goes further to say that the thinned penetrating epoxies don't do as good a job of sealing as theirs un-thinned. IIRC it's because the thinner, as it evaporates, leaves pinholes in the coating through which moisture can migrate. Their bulletin is #002-740 ($3.00) and is called "Final Fairing and Finishing". The caution about thinned epoxies is on page 28.It goes on to say that the combination of epoxy sealer with a spar varnish is the best combination for a clear finish. I know from my boat building experience that epoxy coatings need to be protected from UV. The tech guy at WEST said that their tests showed that the two part polyurethane spar varnish from Epifanes fared far better than anything else in the way of clear finishes. It's very spendy, but I'm 66 and don't want to be re-finishing this west facing door when I'm 77 (;~).Another company that I came across that makes some very juicy claims about the durability (25 years!) of their paints and roof and deck finishes is US Coating Solutions at uscoatingsolutions.com. Anyone have any experience with them or their products?Cheers,Brian
Brian, in our experience several good OPAQUE paints of various kinds can last a very long time, including polyurethanes. The key is to not expose the wood to UV, such as with a clear finish. We have not seen any clear finish last a long time, because it is not the finish that fails, it is the wood surface and its grip of the finish.
DG/Builder
Hi dgbldr,Well, I wouldn't be considering a clear finish except that many years ago I had very good luck with Z-Spar polyurethane spar varnish on a redwood sign that was exposed to morning sun in Palo Alto, CA. It showed no deterioration for 7 years. As a full time wood worker for 40 years, I just hate to cover up that nice vertical grain fir with paint--it reminds me of the spruce that I use for the soundboards of my guitars. The Tech guy at WEST says that the Epifane's sample has been in their UV test chamber for 2 years, being tested again every time they run a test, and that there are no signs of its failing. Also, there will be a screen door providing some shielding, and we're a mile from the ocean here in Fort Bragg, CA so there is a lot of cloudy and foggy weather. But with global warming, who knows. Thanks again,Brian Burns
Brian-
It sounds as if you also build guitars. Is that true?
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Hi razzman,Yes, that's what I do mainly, and teach guitar making. You can see a picture of my smiling face, and all the details at lessonsinlutherie.comCheers,Brian Burns
Well hey, there's a few other guitar folk that roam around here.
Number of years back I saw a performance by a Jorge Perez I believe was his name. Classical guitarist, I think from Brazil.
I was amazed at the use of all 10 fingers and seems he was playing a bass line, rhythm, and lead melody all at the same time. Will never forget that.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Yeah, there are some amazing players out there. I play flamenco guitar, just well enough to teach it, but got hooked on building guitars at an early age. Playing has been, for me, the road not taken.Cheers,Brian