 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Had new oak doors fitted, they're untreated so what's best to use?
I want to keep them natural so not paint but do i use varnish, oil, wax, stain???
thanks
Politely but firmly.
With derision.
With dinner and a movie?
The opportunities for Fast Show based gags this thread presents 🙂
The way you would like to be treated?
Carefully...remember if its not fully open or closed it's actually a jar
[i]The way you would like to be treated? [/i]
Slather me in Ronseal and then buff me until I shine?
😆 @ replies.
Have a look at osmo waxoil ranges.
I'm a big fan of the Liberon stuff. At the last house we had a handmade oak front door. IIRC did 3-4 coats of Liberon Finishing oil. You may want to use a very light stain first - it's amazing how it brings out the grain
Edit - apologies for being sensible 🙂
Slather me in Ronseal and then buff me until I shine?
If that's what you like babycakes 😉 haha
thankyou for the sensible replies 😆
DD's the man with the knowledge on these things, but he's also got more money than sense - that osmo stuff costs a bundle (but Ive used it to great results on my oak stairs on DD's recommendation)
For all our internal doors, banisters/finials and other non-traffic wood treatment Ive used Liberon black bison liquid wax. Cheaper.
All external wood at the barn has been treated with Sikkens Filter 7 on a base coat for long long service life.
Second the Sikkens. Seems to work really well. Pricey, find a mail order source.
They need to be properly dry before sealing!
The more joins / number of peices of oak it is made from the more it will suffer from expansion. Having it recessed into the door reveals and even some sort of deflector above the door helps keep rain off.
From my last experience I would avoid oak doors and go with some unsustainable tropical hardwood doors 😳
We've got oak doors and windows, and I'd second the above that if you're not in to maintenance, avoid them. It's all in the prep, and preparing oak is very labour intensive (read knackering if you do it yourself).
We've used sikkens and it's pretty good. Bit of a pain though being a multi coat / 2 product system IIRC. I think we've got about 2-3 years out of a coat where not in direct sun or protected.
Prior to that we'd oiled them and we were never happy with the lack of longevity.
Internally on the stairs we used another sikkens product (sorry can't remember which), but I'm personally not keen on the finish.
Unless you put some type of varnish on (not good on oak) welcome to the world of having your doors "striped" by wasps chewing the wood up for their nests. You can just hear the little buggers chewing away...
make sure all fittings are brass too. steel and oak are not good friends. as for finishing see the above or look at danish oils for yachts and the like.
tomaso i like the inference that oak is sustainable! how old are you?
DD's the man with the knowledge on these things, but he's also got more money than sense - that osmo stuff costs a bundle (but Ive used it to great results on my oak stairs on DD's recommendation)
8)
Sorry, I have to take issue with this though:
The more joins / number of peices of oak it is made from the more it will suffer from expansion.
Just have a think about what you've said 🙂
Osmo stuff is very good and actually, for just treating the one door, you won't need [i]that[/i] much of it. To be fair though, I'm not sure what they do for external doors - I'm more of an interior oak specialist. Stoner, with the small forest worth of oak in his crib was getting quotes for bulk deliveries 😯
Remember to treat the bottom and top of the door too. The bottom can be a pain, so just get a well soaked rag under there. Use a synthetic brush, three coats and you're there.
At work we use osmo UV protection oil on all our external oak products. You need a couple of coats. It's not cheap but not much is neeed. I don't think we've ever had complaints back about it. You need to be doing something ASAP really before a mould forms on untreated oak due to exposure.
Oooh scary - never thought bout wasps eating oak! Off topic but I've a set like this in my garden[img] 
?t=1306349625[/img]and they're untreated oak as I like the grey colour and didn't wanna wax/oil them every year. Should I be worried bout wasps as they werem't cheap - nnever did like wasps (angry bees) and now dislike them even more!
It's not cheap
Ssshhh...don't tell Stoner.