Treating a stripped pine front door.

[jsykes]

I've just had my old pine front door dipped bringing it right back to bare wood. I want to keep the unvarnished matt look. Can anyone tell me what I should treat it with to protect it but keep it looking like untreated wood?

Thanks,

Julian
London

 

[TonyWarrington]

I don't think that untreated (i.e. not painted) pine can be expected to last too long for exterior use and I have not found any clear matt varnish designated for exterior work.

You may find that something like Rustins Satin Finish Clear Exterior Wood Varnish may be ok - but of course it has a slight sheen which you may not want. Perhaps you could cut back the top coat a little with fine wire wool to dull the finish - I have no idea if this will work though or if it is likely to compromise the weather proofing

 

[bodfish]

Unfortunately thhere is no reliable solution to this. If you leave the dor untreated it will quickly turn grey and start to degrade. Any protective coating relies on building up an impermeable layer to protect the wood below, which gets away from the untreated look. The nearest you'll get would be a clear matt varnish, but varnish doesn't last long if it gets any sort of weathering. Some woodstains (e.g. Sikkens) give more of a natural finish, but all are coloured to provide some uV light protection.
Basically doors like yours were designed to be painted.

 

[jsykes]

I see, thanks for your reply.