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We had our wood front door refinished a year ago. I remember when they finished, they had to come back and re-sand and re-apply the urethane because there were bubbles. It looked great in the end. The painter said I could re-apply a UV urethane annually to prolong the stain on the door since it gets sun on it.
I worry that if I do this, I will end up with bubbles on the door. I can only brush it on the door...no sprayer.
Is it possible to re-apply this annually and it come out smoothly with no bubbles or should I just wait a few years for the door to fade and have a painter redo the door entirely? I don't want to end up making it look terrible only to have to spend a couple hundred for a painter to come out to redo it only a year after it was redone.
If you don't find an annual answer, look up Waterlox brand for UV protection on wood doors (boat varnish), as it lasts a Very long time outside in the harshest of conditions without fading/failing.
If you have a wood door with varnish on it, you will probably need to have it varnished every year. I work in a yacht yard, and the varnish may hold up better on a door, but the teak rails need to be refinished at least every year, sometimes more often.
The annual touch up will prolong the life of the finish. But you will need to lightly sand all of the varnished surface before adding another coat, so that the surface has enough tooth that the varnish can adhere to.
Alternatively you can wait until the existing varnish looks bad enough to bother you and hire the painter to strip and redo the whole job for you.
I too have had a lot of experience varnishing as a result of owning sailboats.
If you want the finish to last any longer than a year you gotta use marine specific coatings.
I've used Sikkens products for a number of years with excellent results- and that's a boat exposed to some pretty harsh elements 24/7.
For a door I'd probably use the Sikkens Cetol Marine Natural Teak as a base coat. It has the UV protectants that are needed- then finish (topcoat) with Sikkens Cetol Marine Gloss. That gives it the shine/gloss/depth that brings out the natural color and grain.
Some light sanding and a light coat maybe needed annually, but I strongly encourage you to look into getting a awning to help protect the door from the elements. Doing this will help protect a door more than any kind of sealant.
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