New oak door - to wax or not to wax?

[Tom]

Hi everyone!!

Gosh it's seems years since I posted here! Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? :lol:

Anyway, Our front door has been made and is wedged in place until we can get the hinges made. But it's raised a problem. I was planning to leave it unfinished, so it could go all nice and silvery as the wood did when it was stood in the yard. However, the joiner says it needs waxing or oiling to prevent it warping. It's made with 2 layers of 1" thick boards. Outside these run vertically and inside they run horizontally. The boards on both sides are 12" wide. Overall, it's about 4' 6" wide by about 7' high. The boards are glued together and will soon have huge rosehead nails driven through from outside to inside and bent over on the inside. These will be more decorative rather than structural, although I guess they will add some strength.

My joiner thinks that, because of the temperature and humidity difference between the inside and the outside, that the wood will warp. What does everyone else think? Incidentally, the wood is either Oak or Greenheart(?). It had been intended as lock gates, but was never used. Instead, it stood in the open air for 20 years, stacked flat on bearers. I've had it for 6 years and, again, it's been in the open. For the last 4 months, it's been in the joiner's workshop.

Please help as the last thing I want is for this door to be ruined.....I've waited years for it!!!!

Thanks
Jaqy

 

[inwood]

Wow, what a beautiful door.

I'm no expert but I prefer the bare silvery look of an oak door on a very old property like yours. The doors on the old Lord Leycester hospital in Warwick spring to mind.

Not sure about warping but I know that wax isn't a suitable finish for the outside of an external door - It would certainly look good on the inside though. Most manufacturers of external timber furniture (e.g. teak garden furniture) recommend oils such as danish oil or boiled linseed. Given the amount of air drying the door has already experienced I can't see that oiling the door would cause warping. There's someone on here with lots of experience of making oak windows (sorry can't remember their but I'm sure they'll be along soon....)

 

[Flyfisher]

Gorgeous!

(Sorry, can't help with the question).

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

That's a fine looking door.

Given the thickness of the timber and the fact that the planks are to be secured with clenched nails I would not worry at all about the effect of surface finishes on potential movement. I'd probably wax inside for appearance and let the outside go grey. There will be a bit of shrinkage / expansion and cupping with seasonal movement, and probably you'll get a few cracks as well, but that's how the door wil develop character.

Those nails will be quite important structurally, so I'd make sure they're big enough and well clenched over.

The only consideration about weathering on the outside would be the interaction of the nail heads with the wood - you may find that you get streaks of rust or black oxide appearing around the nail heads.

 

[Tom]

Thank you for your replies and kind comments.

I think I might not have explained the concerns well enough. The concern from my joiner is that the door will warp if I don't oil it, not that oiling will cause warping. Sorry for any confusion

Jaqy

 

[middi]

If the Oak is well seasoned ( as it appears to be) and well built, you should not have any serious problems with "warping".
Oak is very unpredictable, it depends so much on choise of selected " cuts" from the original trunk, any integrated knots and exposure. The main reason why the carpenter is concerned is that he cannot guarantee( nor would anybodyelse) the amount of movement that will occur untill the door has settled for a period of time in its new situation. The main reason he has suggested to cover it with oil ( not wax) is to "lock in" for as long as possible any residual saps natural resins etc.. in the " newly built" door in order to prolong and allow a more gradual seasoning of the wood in its new situation.

That particular door will would look perfect ( eventually) if allowed to assume it's natural silvery grey state.

Use linseed oil on it for a couple of seasons or so then leave it alone.

 

[Tom]

Hi Middi

Thank you so much for your reply. That's just the sort of answer I wanted - what to do and why. I'll do as you say.

So, can i use linseed oil from my feed merchant or do I need the expensive stuff? Is there any difference? How do I apply it? How many coats? Drying time in between coats? Sorry for so mnay questions but I just have to get this right!!

Thanks again
Jaqy

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Jaqy - when you spent so much (in time if not money), there is no point scrimping on the final bit.

There is quite a difference in the oil between cheap stuff from the DIY shed and something like Holkhams at about £8 per litre, and I doubt you'll ue a litre on the whole door.

I found out the hard way that the £1.50 per bottle from B&Q is crap.

 

[middi]

There is no need to be worried Jaqy, oak is such a brilliant repellant of anything which is applied to it's surface that eventually it will become silvery grey anyway. If you brush on it a coat of boiled linseed oil and repeat the process a couple of times per season ( four applications should be plenty), this should be fine and very easy to apply and will give reasonable "settling" time for the door to adjust. Raw linseed oil may be prone to cause surface molds appearing ( these are not harmfull and eventually they will disappear anyway). Some people use "hard" coatings in the form of varnishes etc.., whilst external oak may well look "fresher" if continuosely re-applied it will become plasticky looking and very uneven shades of patination will appear between top and bottom half of a door. The lower half of the door ( rain etc..) will start to become silvery grey a bit faster than the top half anyway when linseed oil is used, but within a season or so it will acquire a uniform grey colour.
You can of course take a little chance with warping by applying nothing at all on it's surface and oak will take it's natural old age very very quickly.

I hope this helps a bit more

Middi

 

[biffvernon]

Yeah, nice looking door. But what an extraordinary way of constructing it. Why not do it the way it's been done for a thousand years and more? No glue. Just the nails. That's what gives a proper counter-boarded door its strength.

There is no chance that oil or wax will have any effect on warping. Don't use wax on the outside, it doesn't do well in the rain. Mould growth on linseed oiled surfaces suggests oil that contains nutritious proteins. That's a difference between cheap oil and the Swedish stuff that Holkhams sell.

Has anybody used Le Tonkinois?

 

[Tom]

FamilyWiggs

Don't worry, after all these years of working on this house there's no way I'll be scrimping on stuff now. I was just wondering if I could pick up some Linseed oil today from my merchant or whether I'll have to wait to order the good stuff

Middi

Thanks again for such good advice!! Varnishes?! Yuck, no way...not in my house!! :shock: I don't think it would ever forgive me!

Biff

I don't know why the joiner used glue, actually. I'll ask next time he's here. If you re-read my post, you'll see I wasn't worried about wax or oil 'causing' warping, rather the lack of it allowing warping.

Jaqy

 

[Penners]

Jaqy

You've got advice from our two top experts on oak, and I wouldn't presume to disagree with them, even if I wanted to (which I don't).

All I would add is that, if you do decide to use linseed oil (which I would - boiled), be very careful to apply it when the weather is nice and calm. It's surprising how much dust can be blown around by the wind, particularly if you still have building work going on, and if it sticks to the wet linseed oil it can be a b*gger to get off, once it's dried on.

Lovely door in a lovely surround!

 

[Tom]

Hi Penners!!

Good advice, thanks. I wouldn't have wanted to do it the other day; they were combining in the next field and the dust was blowing straight over us!

The oil from Hokhams....is it ready for use? Just warm it up and brush it on? I love their cup brushes, too! Can I use this oil on all my beams, too? If so, it's worth buying in quantity as I've got loads to do!! :shock: What's the shelf life? Sorry, again, for so many questions

Jaqy

 

[skier-hughes]

I use it on everything, heat it up and brush on, also with their great brushes.

No idea on shelf life, I buy 20 litres or so at a time and it just gets sucked into the wood. I'm using it on beams, studs, doors, floors, outside tables..............

Graham

 

[middi]

Shelf life?. I have used some boiled linseed oil 3 years after purchase and appeared to make no difference on the results.

As for using oils on internal beams this is a matter of individual choise, Liquid bees wax mixed with turpentine can be easily brushed on ( Liberon's Pure bees wax mix). THis will result in very authentic natural look of the beams and will not attract dust as much as oils. Oils are fine but they tend leave slight "tints" on the oak albeit reasonably natural .

 

[biffvernon]

I didn't suggest wax or oil could cause warping, rather that it would have no effect. Linseed doesn't have any short shelf life to worry about as long as it's in a sealed container.

Midi, I would have agreed about the varnishes. But. Le Tonkinois is something rather different - just linseed and tung oil, resin and driers. Anyone tried it?

 

[Penners]

I don't have Middi's breadth of experience, but I think I would also favour wax on interior beams, too. In my limited experience it gives a more even and controllable sheen (the more you buff, the shinier it gets - if you want shiny). It's also much easier to deal with indoors. A soft wax 'cream' can be applied without drips, whereas applying oil above your head is a recipe for a well-oiled floor (and arm) too!

Cue a string of 'well-oiled' jokes... :wink:

 

[middi]

I must admit ,Biff, that this Tankenois is new to me, I will certainly give it a trial at earliest opportunity.

 

[biffvernon]

Tankenois is new to me,

That's the Italian version is it? Le Tonkinois in French

 

[Tom]

OK, so it's Holkhams Oil for the door and liquid wax for the beams. Thanks everyone...I don't know what I'd do without this forum!! Well, actually I do. I would never be anywhere near where I am in this renovation and I would probably have given up years ago, sold at a loss and had a very different view on older properties!!

Thank God for the internet!!!

Jaqy