Refinishing wood garage doors can have a dramatic impact on how you feel pulling up to your house every day. We recently stripped and refinished three garage doors. The first two were on a Southern exposure. Even though the doors were only five years old, they had developed a dull and milky look, and were peeling badly. Here are the two newly re-finished doors. How would you feel pulling up to doors like this every day?
Refinished Garage Doors
Stripping wood is a time consuming process. The idea is not to have to do it again for a very long time. Thirty two hours of labor went into stripping and sanding those two doors. We also carefully inserted brown caulk in cracks that had developed in some of the door components to reduce water intrusion and increase the longevity of the finish. We used three coats of a mahogany Sikkens varnish which is specially designed for doors and windows. We much prefer this varnish because, contrary to spar varnishes, it is flexible and does not readily crack like spar always does.
The challenge for garage doors, especially for a Southern exposure like this, is to stay ahead of the effects of weather on the coating. We recommend a two-year maintenance program, which consists of checking the surfaces, touching up of the stain on the lower two rows of the panels’ bottom rails and an additional coat of clear Sikkens varnish. The maintenance is a small cost compared to the cost of refinishing the whole door. By following such a maintenance program, you ensure that the doors will stay looking like new and not require stripping again for a very long time.
Other Refinished Garage Door
The other exterior wood refinishing project presented a different challenge. Originally, the garage door had been stained and varnished. Years later, the previous owner gave up doing the required maintenance and had had the door painted. The door continued to peel anyway, so the next owner decided to have us strip the old paint and varnish and bring back the natural beauty of the wood. Here is the final look!
Exterior wood refinishing is one of the specialties of Painting in Partnership, an award-winning house painting contractor from the Chicago area. We love to bring back the natural beauty of wood and find ways to extend the life of the coatings we apply to exterior surfaces.
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