new oak front door, going to let it weather naturally

[Wren]

Hi

Beautifully made oak stable door on our stone country cottage, just been fitted. I like it when you see doors that weather naturally and go silvery grey and then darker.
Very solidly made so not worried about warping.
Not so keen on the oiled (or varnished look) as looks a bit too orange-ey.
So we are not going to put anything on it. We should be brave and just go for it.....

 

[MikeG]

Absolutely the right decision. I've just made my own oak front door, and it is unfinished, inside and out (oh, and that's a tip........timber should be finished to roughly the same degree of vapour permeability on each side, so ideally if raw outside, it should be raw inside). It will take a year or two to be fully grey.

 

[Wren]

Thank you MikeG. Much appreciated.

 

[Edward Ian]

The timber will inevitably shift as it really dries out, and the expand again when it gets wet.
The doors might fit now and again in 50 years time (maybe) if is untreated.
Good luck! ( and yes, I have had a lot of solid oak doors and windows newly made)

 

[MikeG]

A new door will have been designed for timber movement, and there is no durable finish on the planet suitable for external oak which will in any way reduce expansion and contraction of the timber.

 

[88v8]

I hope the new door does not have panelled water traps, nor end-grain exposed at the bottom. It's amazing how badly joiners can design with oak, apparently thinking it bomb proof.

My garage, oak feather edge, is greying nicely after three years.
One pair of the pre-loved double doors is oak. They were already painted with something black, I overpainted them with black linseed, and so far it's not degraded at all. They have exposed end grain at the bottom and the boards of which they are made are deeply moulded so no chance of a weather board. They were rotting quite badly behind the strap hinges where water was trapped.
I painted the end grain with linseed, and behind the new hinges with linseed.
Fingers crossed.

Ivor

 

[Wren]

Good point.

There isn't any end-grain visible but I think they put this on any end-grain (translucent wood preservative) when they made the doors. And there is a weather seal/threshold seal closer thing at the bottom so the very bottom of the door is protected.

https://www.teknos.com/en-GB/website/global/global-iw/aqua-primer-2907-02/

(They painted the windows (not oak) with the Teknos paint system.)

I am imagining the threshold of the door, which is also oak, might take a bit of a battering as it sticks out the furthest, and thinking about it there may be some end-grain at the very each end of the threshold which is just visible but then will probably dry out again quite fast. Will keep an eye on it.

 

[JanieB]

I had a (very expensive) oak door fitted 3 years ago. I love it, but it expands and shrinks according to the weather. It has a double glazed window in it and is fitted with a draught proofed frame. The draught proofing has now fallen out of the frame and I can’t put it back. I think this is because of the extraordinarily hot summer. As to it’s finish, it was varnished which doesn’t last long on a north facing door. It needs doing again. It protects the wood.

 

[Cubist]

I had a (very expensive) oak door fitted 3 years ago. I love it, but it expands and shrinks according to the weather. It has a double glazed window in it and is fitted with a draught proofed frame. The draught proofing has now fallen out of the frame and I can’t put it back. I think this is because of the extraordinarily hot summer. As to it’s finish, it was varnished which doesn’t last long on a north facing door. It needs doing again. It protects the wood.

Hi Janie,

If you could post some photos I'm sure you'll get some suggestions regarding the cause and methods of repair for the failed draught proofing.

Regarding the varnish finish; do you know what varnish was used and how it was applied? Applied properly varnish provides a very effective barrier to water penetration and prevents the cycle of swelling and shrinking.

Cheers,
Cubist

 

[MikeG]

Varnish has very little chance of success on external oak. It is a stiff, inflexible product, and the substrate (oak) isn't. When the oak moves and the varnish doesn't, failure is inevitable. Furthermore, if it was polyurethane varnish, it doesn't successfully over-coat, so you can't repair it. It will delaminate rapidly. Varnish may ostensibly protect the wood, but that's only in some limited circumstances, and until it fails. Once it fails it can actually do more harm than good.

 

[mattice]

We've treated ours.... still having to keep check on the end grain at the bottom of the door every two years I give a gentle rub down and treat with a translucent Osmo. It is yellow compared with the rest of the frame but whilst I believe we have a well crafted door it felt right to give it some protection.