Back Door, could be pine, can it be left stripped and sealed

[robgil]

ive taken about 7 layers of white gloss off my back door , plus a chocolate brown , a green and a black , i think the black was tar. the green and brown were old paints and reacted very differently to the stripper , not the usual bubbling but more melting to a liquid.
Any how , the door is 100+ years old and i am thinking about leaving it bare for now , what can i do to seal it , if it needs sealed at all?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Ooh well done. Is it going to face the elements? If so, surely you' be better off with a linseed oil and linseed paint finish on there? I'll take a pic of what weather can do to pine...

If it isn't going to be subjected to the rigours of the British winter, I'd do as Toby Newell advises and seal it with a shellac sealer then wax it. The sealer acts as a kind of moisturiser, enabling a lovely, rich, even penetration of the wax. Don't think of it as something locking out moisture -it isn't that.

Pics!

 

[robgil]

i shall get you some pics , its covered in nb510 at the moment.
It will be facing the garden although it is quite enclosed , also , there is significant rot at the bottom of the door so i need something , if there is such a thing , to stop the rot from getting worse.
Linseed oil sounds good but i was hoping not to have to paint it.

 

[JoceAndChris]

There are various wood hardening things in DIY stores that claim to repel rot. My dad loves them and always slaps them on. I phoned the Holkams people and asked if this should go on before their linseed oil/linseed paint system and they said no, it does more harm than good. So now I'm confused about it.

If the wood is soft and spongy and liable to come off on the nose of your cat then you'll have to splice in a new section.

You could just oil the door and assess its condition in a year or so.

 

[Penners]

I presume this is a planked, ledged door?

If it's a pine exterior door you can't leave it naked, unless you want it to weather and rot (a process that sounds as though it's already started).

Linseed oil paint is your stuff.

As to the rotted bottom, your best plan is to cut off the rotted sections and set in new pieces. If you're painting the door, then the colour difference between the old and new wood won't be an issue.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I agree with Penners about not leaving it naked. This original cottage door (I think it's ash, or elm?) was left in a sheltered spot in the garden for many years.
It didn't like it!

 

[Flyfisher]

Just to add another vote for painting the door. It's asking a lot for a softwood door to withstand the rigours of the English weather without some form of protection.

 

[worms]

Linseed oil sounds good but i was hoping not to have to paint it.

But it could simply be treated with linseed oil, rather than a linseed based paint, if you want the bare wood effect. Linseed oil is so easy to work with that even if you need to give it an additional coat every so often, it is no difficulty. And unlike any paint, you can just slap it on and wipe any excess off, so painting it on becomes really quick.

I keep a jar with linseed oil and a brush in it just inside the garage door, easy to pick up whenever there is a moment and topped up from a 5l pack of oil when needed. I am on raw feed-grade linseed oil and despite it probably being about 30% protein content, I have had no problem with mildew. It comes in so handy for all the bare wood that is around - fence posts, cold-frame, doors, rabbit-hutch, nesting boxes, benches, saw-horse, log-store, shed, bird-table...

 

[robgil]

Here it is guys. took ages to strip all the gunk off it. Its wet in this photo after washing it down but it really is quite dark for pine , must have been the black tar it was painted with.

this is the partially stripped back side.

This is the bottom bit with the rot , its not too bad and i was thinking a new kick plate with something to halt the rotting process might work , i have another one of these doors that is totally shot but i can make a new kick plate from it.

The interesting thing about this door and one of the reasons why i dont want to paint over it is the lovely old graffiti. this dates to 1912.

and a nice old fuffolk latch to finish it off.

Wax wouldn't do any good on an exterior door , what about a matt varnish?

 

[robgil]

Linseed oil sounds good but i was hoping not to have to paint it.

But it could simply be treated with linseed oil, rather than a linseed based paint, if you want the bare wood effect. Linseed oil is so easy to work with that even if you need to give it an additional coat every so often, it is no difficulty. And unlike any paint, you can just slap it on and wipe any excess off, so painting it on becomes really quick.

I keep a jar with linseed oil and a brush in it just inside the garage door, easy to pick up whenever there is a moment and topped up from a 5l pack of oil when needed. I am on raw feed-grade linseed oil and despite it probably being about 30% protein content, I have had no problem with mildew. It comes in so handy for all the bare wood that is around - fence posts, cold-frame, doors, rabbit-hutch, nesting boxes, benches, saw-horse, log-store, shed, bird-table...

linseed oil it is then , i can always watch over it and any sign of it soaking in moisture i can always resort to plan B.
i just need to make a plan B now.

 

[worms]

Lovely door! Is it pitch pine?

I'd still oil it!

 

[robgil]

whats pitch pine?

edit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_Pine

i dont know , its got some lovely red rings in it and red knots , i almost thought it was parahana pine of some sort.

 

[worms]

Perhaps pitch pine isn't the right term - I had always thought of the deep red pines that were used in Victorian houses and churches as pitch pine, but probably that is a generic decription rather than the actual species. In reality I suppose it was old growth Canadian or Scandinavian redwood. I'm sure one of our wood experts will enlighten us!

 

[robgil]

in the eyes/knots it seems to have a red powdery type stuff, i thought was old paint but i am jot sure.

 

[robgil]

here it is.

 

[Flyfisher]

Lovely old door; I can see why you don't want to cover it up with paint, so linseed oil seems like a good suggestion.

The writing on the door is also nice to find but I'm surprised the paint stripping didn't remove the green 'A Rust 1912' writing. Could it have been written with a wax crayon?

 

[robgil]

I dont think so FF , the door had some green paint all over it but it was a very old paint and it didn't lift off totally , there is still some on other parts of the door.
there was a brown layer of paint ontop of the green and it turned to liquid when the nb510 was applied so i think it soaked up most of the stripper , there4 was also a black tar like coating that soaked up a lot of the stripper as well. I am not too worried about leaving traces of paint on the door , it all adds to the character.

 

[AMc]

The red stuff was all over the knots in my many and various potato cupboard doors - I think it's a knot sealant. I hot air stripped and sanded them last year. The exterior ones are now painted with oil gloss, the ones I've reused inside are bare wood.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Beautiful door, I can see why you wouldn't wnat to paint it now with all that lovely ancient writing. The colour's great too.

Linseed oil, or possibly clear Osmo product?

 

[robgil]

linseed oil i think guys , i know where i am with linseed oil.
but which kind? boiled or raw? and what's the difference except that one is boiled? i only have boiled linseed oil here.