Naked french....

[mattice]

.....doors!

I went to view our new french doors at the local joiners at the weekend, a couple of days and they will be done. We went for Douglas Fir with hardwood sills in the end, very excited to have some weatherproofing after enduring our very holey existing doors last winter in the less-than-period part of our house.

As we went for the DIY option I've been looking at finishing options, they are completely naked. I've read a lot of posts on here about linseed paint systems however we're renovating the rest of the house windows, which have been heavily stained in the past. We're using Sadolin 10 year paint system, they are softwood of very basic construction with about 5 years life left in them so I'm not being precious as they were 'done on the cheap' in the 80's and not looked after since. The easiest option is therefore to continue this through...

The doors are first to be replaced and I'm confused about painting/treatment options for new wood, to be honest I'm going round in circles. Does anyone have any advice along the lines of paint system, preservative, no. of coats, and whether it's best to apply the final coat in-situe? They will be delivered to our living room in 2 days which will be transformed into a painting shop until we're done and I find someone to install them or DIY after paying the LA fee :shock: ....

Thanks in advance,

Mattice
(prefers digging holes to painting)

 

[Lime]

Painting the doors unattached in the warm and the dry seems the ideal opportunity to use linseed oil paint.
I don't believe any 10 year guarantee means very much with modern paints.
If you do use Sadolin I don't mind betting you will regret it in less than 5 years time.

 

[Flyfisher]

I've had variable results with sadolin. South-facing black windows show signs of flaking after less than 5 years, whereas similar north-facing ones still look OK after the same time. A west-facing black shed door needs is also showing signs of flaking after the same time. I wonder what their 10 year guarantee actually covers? Black paint does have a hard time in the sunshine though so perhaps lighter colours would last longer?

I've used black linseed paint on the new roof woodwork for our west-facing kitchen extension this summer and osmo polyx on the new oak door and windows. I'll let you know how it's all faring in 5 years time. :wink:

 

[worms]

Painting the doors unattached in the warm and the dry seems the ideal opportunity to use linseed oil paint.
I don't believe any 10 year guarantee means very much with modern paints.
If you do use Sadolin I don't mind betting you will regret it in less than 5 years time.

I would agree - a warm, dry painting room sounds like a real luxury and an ideal opportunity to go down the linseed route! As long as you don't suddenly need to turn it back into a living room at a moment's notice and can accept that it will probably be out of action for a couple of weeks.

 

[mattice]

Thanks all, as I renovate the other windows (next year) how do you think the linseed will take to the previously stained and painted windows? We've managed to strip back one to wood but not 100%, thanks M

 

[skier-hughes]

I've painted all of our windows in our dining room........ which has been a work room for the last 6 years!
I always find that another coat is needed after fitting, just to touch up those inevitable scratches, marks etc but I give them 3 good coats inside and anything done after fitting is regarded by me as an extra coat.

Not sure about how it will take to the old treated wood, only way to tell is to try. Might need to coat first with shellac, not sure how well it'll work all over with the wood, or do a better job of removal

 

[Lime]

Thanks all, as I renovate the other windows (next year) how do you think the linseed will take to the previously stained and painted windows? We've managed to strip back one to wood but not 100%, thanks M

No I wouldn't use shellac.
Neat linseed oil is the thing to use on a porous surface.
Let it soak in and wipe off any excess.
Linseed oil paint uses a dense pigment IME and covers well.

 

[skier-hughes]

I was assuming the previous treatments of possible modern paint and sadolin weren't terribly porous and might need treating first?
I agree for naked wood and stripped wood, a coat of linseed oil is best.
In fact the naked frenchiie should have it's douglas fir linseed oiled first, but not the hard wood, you paint direct onto this.

 

[Me!]

Thanks all, as I renovate the other windows (next year) how do you think the linseed will take to the previously stained and painted windows? We've managed to strip back one to wood but not 100%, thanks M

Most of my linseed painting has been on either new or completely stripped old wood and has gone OK. However, one external door which had some areas of sanded wood and some of sanded but solid old paint has not worked so well. The areas painted onto the old paint have covered it and stuck to it fine, however even now, two summers after painting it, the areas covering the old paint are still slightly tacky to touch.

 

[mattice]

Thanks, lot's to think about, I'll go and do some more research. I think we might be eating our xmas dinner off these doors

 

[worms]

The areas painted onto the old paint have covered it and stuck to it fine, however even now, two summers after painting it, the areas covering the old paint are still slightly tacky to touch.

I found that the first coat over sanded old paint took a while to dry, but that the second coat dried very fast. I attributed this to the very different weather conditions that prevailed at the time of the second coat but perhaps it was the fact that it had a layer of linseed to key in to.