I’m refinishing my front door, am planning on multiple coats of a good marine varnish, but after sanding all the old finish off I realized it would look much better with a stain to darken it a little (turns out that under all that old finish is Cypress wood, and that light a wood would look odd on the house). Are there any types of stain that work best for outdoor and will also work under a marine varnish? In reading one of Flexner’s books it looks like I should go with a pigment stain rather than a dye stain, but I can’t find anything on the proper stain binder to use under a marine varnish (oil, water, varnish or lacquer binder). Perhaps I’m overthinking this and any stain will work; I’ve just put a lot of time into this door rehab, and would hate to waste it by picking the wrong stain...
Thanks for any help!