Sikkens Cetol on exterior door

[brian zawatsky]

Hey guys. Earlier i posed this question by piggybacking on an old thread, which is bad form and i know better. So to correct the error of my ways, here it is in a new thread.

I just installed some sapele exterior doors that I finished with D-Dur exterior 2k poly and I’m really not happy with how it turned out. The door on the northeast side of the garage (gets like zero sun exposure so it stays wet when it rains) is showing signs of water infiltration after just a week of cool, wet fall weather here in PA.

I have a large set of commercial entry doors with full exposure (no porch) to do next and planned on using the D-Dur but am seriously considering other options now.

I'm considering using Cetol Door & Window but have read that it needs UV exposure to cure and isn’t recommended for in-shop finishing. Since its too cold to finish the doors on site, shop finishing is an absolute must. Would the Cetol 1 + Cetol 23 Plus system be a better choice? Ideally I’m interested in UV resistance and relatively straight-forward maintenance procedures (re-coat on site).

Having never used this product before (and not done much exterior door making) any guidance on the subject would be incredibly appreciated.

[John TenEyck]

I have made two Sapele house doors finished with PPG Prolux (Cetol) Door and Window finish. I'm in WNY so the weather is similar to where you are, though likely with larger temperature extremes. One door faces directly West with no porch and gets direct rain and lots of afternoon sun. The other is on my own house and faces North on an open porch and gets only wind blown rain and a little afternoon sun. Both are finished with two coats of mahogany and a single coat of satin clear. Both doors were built using stave core construction with 3/16" Sapele veneer. This is the West facing, exposed door.




For 3 years the door looked unchanged. It's now 4 years old and I saw it a couple of months ago. The finish has faded quite a bit, very noticeable to me but apparently not to the owner. The good news is the film is still completely intact, just chalked away, exactly as Cetol describes in their literature. I could see no cracking, peeling, or water penetration anywhere on the door. Next year the owner and I will recoat the door with at least one coat of mahogany and a coat of satin clear. I don't think it will require anything more than a cleaning and scuff sand for preparation.

The door on my own house is only 6 months old and looks brand new, as I expect it will continue to for many years.

The finish goes on great with a good bristle brush. The only downsides are it takes quite a while to dry and cure, and it's easily scratched. That would be my only concern using it on commercial doors.

John

[Randy Heinemann]

I used it on the first exterior wood door we had in the entry to our house. It's great stuff and, as finishes go, I'm guessing it's about as weather resistant as they come. I can't speak to needing UV exposure to cure, but I would take the door off when refinishing and generally put it out of the sun. when drying before reinstalling. I didn't notice any problems.

One thing I would say (and this eventually resulted in replacement of the wood door with a fiberglass texture door), no finish will last outside without regular maintenance and refinishing. The first few years it didn't require much work but, after that, if I didn't lightly sand and refinish it with the Sikkens every year, the door would require extensive sanding and refinishing work. Wood and weather/sun just don't mix well in my opinion.

[John TenEyck]

Forgot to address the comment about UV curing. No, that's not a requirement and would be of no benefit.

John

[brian zawatsky]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your thoughts & experience. Just placed an order for Cetol 1 & Cetol Door & Window so we shall see how it goes. Here are a few pics of the sapele doors that I just installed, finished with 3 coats of D-Dur sprayed thru an HVLP gravity gun.
IMG_2760.jpg

IMG_2783.jpg

IMG_2781.jpg

These doors are all solid sapele constructed with drawbored mortise & tenon joints. This is my first foray into exterior door making. I hope they don't warp lol
The garage is scheduled to receive new siding in the spring, so the doors will look more like they belong after that point.

[John TenEyck]

At the moment those doors definitely are the highlight of that garage. Nice work.

John

[Lisa Starr]

I lived in a log home finished with the Cetol 1 and Cetol 23 Plus for over 15 years and can attest to the quality of the product. It does a great job. Our experience was that exposures that get little to no sun will easily go 2-3 years without a re-coat. The sunny exposures are 1-2 years. In both cases, make sure the area is clean, remove any loose Cetol (usually none) and recoat with Cetol 23 Plus. If for some reason there is a spot down to bare wood, coat with the Cetol 1 first, and then re-coat with the Cetol 23 Pus. The main thing is to follow the instructions are to number of coats.

[John TenEyck]

I lived in a log home finished with the Cetol 1 and Cetol 23 Plus for over 15 years and can attest to the quality of the product. It does a great job. Our experience was that exposures that get little to no sun will easily go 2-3 years without a re-coat. The sunny exposures are 1-2 years. In both cases, make sure the area is clean, remove any loose Cetol (usually none) and recoat with Cetol 23 Plus. If for some reason there is a spot down to bare wood, coat with the Cetol 1 first, and then re-coat with the Cetol 23 Pus. The main thing is to follow the instructions are to number of coats.

Those are indeed great products, but not the same as the Cetol Door and Window product. Perhaps they could be used for doors, too, no experience.

John