Finishing Tips for Your Texas Custom Doors Wood Entry Doors are a beautiful investment for your home. Like a fine piece of wood home furniture, they have to be maintained and protected. You would not leave your fine wood furnishings directly exposed to Mother Nature's elements nor would you choose not to maintain them. The same is true for your homes wood entry door.

FINISHING OPTIONS

• Do not walk on any door units. Some units contain glass.
• Avoid dragging doors across one another and keep doors clean.
• Store flat on a level surface in a dry, well-ventilated building.
• Doors should be conditioned to average prevailing relative humidity of the locality before hanging.
• Doors should not be subjected to extreme or rapid changes in heat or humidity. Avoid sudden changes such as forced heat to dry out a building.
• If the doors are to be stored on the job site, all six sides must be sealed with an effective quality oil-base sealer in order to prevent undue moisture absorption.

Avoid finishing immediately after a rain or damp weather, or during periods of higher than average humidity.  The door itself must be dry.  Grease and oily stains can be removed with mineral spirits.  Do not use water or caustic  or abrasive cleaners.

Before applying the first coat of finish, hand sand the entire surface lightly with sandpaper (180 grit). This is to remove fingerprints and handling marks.

After hand sanding, clean door thoroughly with a tack cloth to remove all dust or foreign material. However, avoid using caustic or abrasive cleaners.

Never use Palm or Orbital sanders on the doors, sanders can leave gouges & indentations in the wood. Doors MUST be lightly hand sanded between every application

The first coat should be a sanding sealer, a combination of stain and sealer, which colors the door and seals the surface. It is available in a wide range of colors. The stain-and-sealer should have an alkyd-resin base.

All six sides of the door must be properly finished. The edges (top, bottom and sides) should be coated with each and every coat of finish that is applied to the exterior surface of the door – If all 6 sides are not sealed it Voids the warranty

If a stain effect is desired, apply one or two coats of semi-transparent stain; letting it stand and wiping as needed to achieve the desired color.  Let dry completely...
The final step is to apply at least two - three topcoats of an exterior oil-base clear finish, sanding in between coats with 220 grit sandpaper graduating to 320 grit sandpaper on the last sanding.  Using a tack rag after sanding between coats will give you a beautifull smooth finish. Marine-quality varnishes and polyurethane finishes do a superior job as topcoats. 

To obtain a quality painted finish, first use a good quality oil-base primer manufactured for exterior use.  Sand lightly when dry.  The second and third coats are "color" coats and may be either oil-base or latex-base exterior paints.

Whatever finish desired, use sealers, primers, stains and finish coatings from the same manufacturer, if possible, to insure compatibility.  Follow the manufacturer's instructions.  Consult your paint dealer.

Caution
We cannot evaluate all the available paints and stains, nor the customers' specific application requirements. Your paint dealer should know of suitable finish systems that give satisfactory results in your region. It is highly recommended that top quality finishes be selected, and the application instructions on the container be followed explicitly.

Use sealer, primer, clear finishes and paint liberally to fill in and bridge all voids in the joints between wood sections and between the wood and any glass or insets in the door.
Sand lightly between coats of sealer, stain, and clear finishes.