Originally Posted by MichaelKellough

I suppose that photo is a year old because the finish doesn't look worn at all.

I wish I could help you with some miracle product I just invented. I'd be a millionaire in no time. Everyone wants a transparent finish that can actually stand up to UV but no one has one. The catalyzed polyurethane the airlines use is pretty good but when it starts failing (in a handful of years max) the whole finish has to be mechanically removed.



A clear finish needs to be protected from the sun, but this might be overkill.

This is a nice size but the real key to protecting the door is the titanium dioxide. The primary difference between a long lasting paint and a short duration clear coat is the UV blocking pigments. Take all the pigments out of the paint and they're pretty much the same.

Nice wood under a smooth clear coat out in the sun is really beautiful. As Laurie knows, it takes a lot of maintenance to keep it looking good. As far as the work goes I'd put up a temporary door and do the work in the garage as you outlined. If you're committed to maintaining the clear coat you might as well buy an inexpensive proper door that fits right because you'll need it again every couple of years.

Another not very appealing option is to add a glass storm door. Glass does a better job of blocking UV than varnish.

Originally Posted by RONWEN

That is a very attractive home entry -- as Michael suggests it is just begging for a small awning accent of some sort also providing the ~2 year finish protection.

Originally Posted by hasslefactor

Just FYI, before you order your (expensive!) Epifanes varnish and brushes....

• Every time I've shopped for it, Jamestown Distributors always seemed to have the best price - sometimes half what other places sell it for. Awesome service, too.
  
• Jamestown also offers quite a few of the Epifanes brushes. However, I ordered mine directly from Epifanes because (A) I needed a couple sizes that Jamestown didn't carry, (B) Epifanes carries the heavy duty brush keeper I was looking for (if you're interested, it's the first product on their list when you click the link - I got the 10 brush one); and (C) the price was marginally better.

Thanks for the new pics. The finish failure is so uniform along those joints, it almost looks as if the original varnish simply cracked under the stress of wood movement. Presumably (since it's a west-facing door) the bottom of the door gets a lot more heat and sun exposure than the top - otherwise it's a bit of a puzzle why the problem has only occurred at the bottom joints.

If wood movement is causing the failure, then I'm guessing that either the original finish wasn't a long-oil (spar) varnish, or that the original build wasn't thick enough, or both. Unfortunately, most varnishes labeled for "exterior" use are just interior products with a minimal amount of UV absorber mixed in. Getting any real UV protection from these products would require many, many, MANY coats... but of course the application instructions lead customers to believe that a couple of coats are adequate.

But there's a potentially far greater problem. Varnish with a "short" oil to resin ratio will be too hard and brittle to accommodate wood movement. Only spar varnishes - because of their high ratio or oil to resin - cure with the flexibility to withstand that kind of stress.

So, bottom line, I see two possibilities....

The good one:

If the finish already on the door is a long-oil (spar) type of varnish that only failed because it either had insufficient UV inhibitors in the formulation, or simply wasn't applied to a thick enough build, then it should be possible to repair the damage and (after building up the finish in the repaired areas) provide long-lasting protection to the entire door through application of multiple coats of a good marine varnish like Epifanes.

And the not so good one:

If the finish already on the door is failing because it is NOT a long-oil varnish - and therefore lacks the flexibility to tolerate wood movement - then it will in all likelihood continue to fail. Putting many coats of a marine varnish over it will still get you quite a bit of UV protection, but it won't stop the more brittle original layers of finish from cracking and lifting when the wood moves. The best you could hope for in THAT case is that the new coats prove to be sufficiently flexible to remain intact OVER the failed underlying finish... at least long enough to keep the water out while you decide what to do about it.

I am wishing you the GOOD one.