Best stain for outdoors?

[Tom Jones III]

I've made an entry door from walnut and I'm about ready to apply the finish. I plan to put on some sort of spar varnish (from a boating supply store) but SWMBO wants to stain the outside of the door black. I know, I know, I've got all this gorgeous walnut but we have black painted shutters on the outside and she wants the door to match. I wasn't willing to look at a metal door on the inside so here we are.

Anyway, the packages of dye's that I have seen say they are interior only. miniwax stains also say interior only and keep away from UV. What is the best way to get this door black? I assume that paint is not what we want? Does anyone know of a UV safe exterior stain.

FWIW, this is an east facing door with no shade in Texas. The sun and humidity will be brutal on this door so I'm looking for the most durable finish possible.

[Jason Roehl]

Since you're going totally black, and with the eastern exposure, I'd just paint it. You'll get many more years out of the finish than any stain/spar varnish combo you can find, and it would be a quick coat or two to rejuvenate when you do face that eventuality. You'll want to use a good quality exterior acrylic primer, tinted as dark gray as the paint store will take it, then a high quality exterior acrylic tinted black. For exterior blacks, I like Sherwin-Williams' interior/exterior All Surface Enamel (the blue-green can is acrylic, the red is oil, don't go oil). They should have some ready-mixed in black on the shelf.

Jason (pro painter by day)

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Jason. Paint will get the color and if you use the right product and consistency, not hide the physical properties of the grain. Paint will last far longer and require a lot less maintenance.

[Tom Jones III]

Thanks, I'll look into that. It certainly sounds easier to maintain than stain & varnish

[Steve Schoene]

Make walnut shutters. I'd do that before I'd paint walnut. At least put a coat or two of shellac on first, so that when sanity returns, you can strip the the paint, and not have a problem getting black pigment out of the pores.