# Entry Door Staining



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

We love Sikkens. This is a new set of entry doors we are staining in Palm Harbor Florida. We will be applying 3 coats of Sikkens Door & Window Dark Oak.
These pictures show the first 2 coats


----------



## Andyman (Feb 21, 2009)

Door & Window is AWESOME stuff. Nice job.


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Thanks Andy


----------



## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

looks great. was it applied with brush? did you thin down at all, first coat?


----------



## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I have always been able to pick out sikkens jobs from the visible brush marks from the tint in it, but not with your doors. How did you apply it?


----------



## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

Another beautiful project!


----------



## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

Dude.....you are the Paint P.O.R.N Pimp!


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Paint and Hammer said:


> Dude.....you are the Paint P.O.R.N Pimp!


 Thanks?:blink:


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

TJ Paint said:


> looks great. was it applied with brush? did you thin down at all, first coat?


Yes,it is brushed.


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

DeanV said:


> I have always been able to pick out sikkens jobs from the visible brush marks from the tint in it, but not with your doors. How did you apply it?


Ancient Chinese secret!

No really we just brush it. But we do it a little differently then most. From doing so many we have picked up a few tricks.
We wipe the first coat down to get rid of those brush marks so we treat it kinda like a wiping stain.Then of course a light sand between coats and almost dry brush the 2nd coat.
It looks amazing!


----------



## cardwizzard (Sep 13, 2010)

Very very nice work Aaron. Doors done like this make a great first impression. Well done.


----------



## Dave Mac (May 4, 2007)

looks good and should last a good while.


----------



## JNLP (Dec 13, 2007)

Damn those look great! :thumbup:


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

1 more coat Today.I'll post the finished product.


----------



## Dunbar Painting (Mar 19, 2010)

what grit sand paper do you use for the final sand before you stain?


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

dunbar painting said:


> what grit sand paper do you use for the final sand before you stain?


220................


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Just had these sent in.Final coat!


----------



## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I have never tried building sikkens thin like that. I will have to try that next time and see. Do you think a final coat of clear after building with color in thin coats would be helpful for longer durability? That way the color gets built with sikkens and the final clear coat adds depth and protection?

Door look great. So I am not sure that I would alter any steps just thinking out loud.


----------



## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

DeanV said:


> I have never tried building sikkens thin like that. I will have to try that next time and see. Do you think a final coat of clear after building with color in thin coats would be helpful for longer durability? That way the color gets built with sikkens and the final clear coat adds depth and protection?
> 
> Door look great. So I am not sure that I would alter any steps just thinking out loud.


The Door & Window has color built in. Having 2 1/2-3 coats should be plenty. He can do maintenance coats every couple years in the clear without deepening the color.


----------



## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Looks incredible, Aaron. Is the sheen from the product itself or is that some type of poly coat within a Sikkens system? :notworthy:


----------



## Andyman (Feb 21, 2009)

D&W is a stain and finish in one.


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

3 coats of door & window is all that's required.A clear is not neccessary unless you want a higher gloss. We have done some with a clear top coat but I really don't like the look.
You can also use the Cetol 1,2,3 system but I find the door & window is just easier.It's all in 1.


----------



## JoseyWales (Jan 8, 2011)

.


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

JoseyWales said:


> I'm not a big fan of that look..The finish always looks uneven...


WTF??? I've been re-finishing doors for a looooonng time and think it looks fantastic!
I'm curious,What would you recommend??


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Josey,could you please point out to me what is "uneven" on the doors in these pictures?


----------



## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

aaron61 said:


> Josey,could you please point out to me what is "uneven" on the doors in these pictures?


I can't see it


----------



## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Well, there is the one minor issue on the lower right panel, but I'm just gonna call it a trick of the light. :jester:


----------



## BreatheEasyHP (Apr 24, 2011)

Looks beautiful. Ever read the msds for the product? Dang!


----------



## JoseyWales (Jan 8, 2011)

aaron61 said:


> Josey,could you please point out to me what is "uneven" on the doors in these pictures?


You caught my post before I erased it..I didn't want to cause an issue..By streaky I meant uneven colours which may not be the applicator's fault...One poster caught the lower right panel being a tad 'light' imo....Sometimes whatever you do one portion of the wood is going to stay a slightly different colour....Look at the fancy detailed pieces that turned much darker for instance..


----------



## 6126 (May 9, 2010)

Awesome. Damn good job.


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

JoseyWales said:


> You caught my post before I erased it..I didn't want to cause an issue..By streaky I meant uneven colours which may not be the applicator's fault...One poster caught the lower right panel being a tad 'light' imo....Sometimes whatever you do one portion of the wood is going to stay a slightly different colour....Look at the fancy detailed pieces that turned much darker for instance..


That's what stain does.Variation is part of the beauty.It reacts to the porosity(open grain,closed grain,milling) of each piece of wood.If you want even then you should paint it.


----------



## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

aaron61 said:


> That's what stain does.Variation is part of the beauty.It reacts to the porosity(open grain,closed grain,milling) of each piece of wood.If you want even then you should paint it.


 When a customer would question variations, my 'ol man used to say "only God can make a tree".... that's the beauty of it. Usually ended the conversation. Doors look great Aaron-you guys can do doors for me anytime. Do you have any trouble on the exterior side with bugs sticking to the finish down there being it's a slow dry?


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

No.Can't say bugs have been an issue for us.


----------



## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

aaron61 said:


> No.Can't say bugs have been an issue for us.


 Many of the entrance doors up here have storm doors as well which really helps. I did an exterior door(without a storm) with high Gloss oil. It came out great until out of no where the green flies came and after a short while the door looked like one of those fly strips!!! We had to rig up some crazy plastic barricade and leave the door open to the inside of the house. A lot of work and stress just to paint a door.

How do you handle the weather strip problem with closing the door(if there is no storm door) when you finish them on site with the slow dry? Are you able to leave the door slightly open over night to avoid sticking and marking on the exterior?


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

We usually remove the weather stripping during the 3 day process.Then put in the last day and ask the HO to leave the door slightly open as long as they can or they can shut it and put the weather stripping back in themselves later.


----------



## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

aaron61 said:


> We usually remove the weather stripping during the 3 day process.Then put in the last day and ask the HO to leave the door slightly open as long as they can or they can shut it and put the weather stripping back in themselves later.


Ive heard some different tricks, like spraying Pam on the strip. I know some guys that do this on the wood crank out windows to keep them from sticking. Never tried that on a nice door like that one....and I dont wanna be the first :notworthy:


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

I used to carry a can around for that.But it's not easy to carry everything in your bag of tricks


----------



## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

aaron61 said:


> I used to carry a can around for that.But it's not easy to carry everything in your bag of tricks


You just need a bigger bag :whistling2:


----------



## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Wiping vaseline on the stripping will work as well. Used to do it all the time when we still used oil enamel on exterior doors. 

Doors turned out nice Aaron.


----------



## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

looks good but I am surprised you brushed them. just seems like one of those worth spraying.

Do you do an 18 month maintenance plan to keep them in top shape?


----------



## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

jack pauhl said:


> looks good but I am surprised you brushed them. just seems like one of those worth spraying.
> 
> Do you do an 18 month maintenance plan to keep them in top shape?


Thats the nice thing with Door & Window, it lays down really nice, so rarely would you ever need to spray it. In this case, being that it was one door, spraying probably would have taken longer. The extreme slow drying would have been the big drawback to spraying on this one. The prep, set up time, and clean up time for 30 seconds of spraying, just not worth it on this one. Especially since it's 3 trips anyways to finish. 

18 months might be too quick. Depending on exposure, 2-3 year maintenance coat on south and west exposure, 3-5 year on north and eastern exposure. I would recommend the 2-3 year regardless.


----------



## TERRY365PAINTER (Jul 26, 2009)

Hey interested in using that stain 
What is the dry time between coats?
Texas weather high temp s


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

TERRY365PAINTER said:


> Hey interested in using that stain
> What is the dry time between coats?
> Texas weather high temp s


Dry time is 24 hours give or take. we usually finish the first go round by 2 0r 3 and back at it the next morning.


----------



## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

Thanks for answering that NC...don't remember seeing you there but it's all good 
You are correst sir spraying does not compute (for us) here.
We put all of our door customers into our system.They are all called anually although those that we use the Sikkens on we only need to maintain every 2-3 years.


----------

