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Wooden doors should be maintained on a regular basis. The goal is to keep
most of the sun’s damage confined to the outermost layer of finish
where some preventative precautions can be applied and thereby limit the
damage done to the inner layers. The trick is to do maintenance BEFORE significant
damage has occurred. Simple recommendations include:
At least once a month, wipe the exterior side of your door with a soft, damp
cloth. This removes dirt, which creates mud when wet. Water stays on your door
much longer when there is mud present than when there is not. Plus your door
looks much better when clean.
You will benefit by wiping your door after a heavy rain, even if you only
use your hand. A thin layer of water evaporates much faster than drops of water.
A quicker evaporation time means less time for the rain to work its way into
any available cracks in the finish.
Set up a maintenance program. Periodically, the door should be wiped down
with a soft damp cloth, lightly sanded, wiped with mineral spirits to remove
sanding dust and any oily contaminates and a new coat of finish applied. This
maintenance will seal any developing cracks in the exterior layer of finish
and renew the outer layer’s ability to filter UV
radiation.
Maintenance does not repair damage to the inner finish layers or to a faded
stain layer, but it does help maintain the status quo. Most importantly, when
performed before any significant damage has occurred to the lower layers of
finish, a maintenance program should double the life expectancy of your doors
finish. But even with a good maintenance schedule, eventually the innermost
layers do break down and the door will need a refinishing.
The Door Refinishing Company highly recommends a maintenance program and provides
that service if you choose not to do the finish work yourself.
While there are many factors that affect the interval
between surface maintenances, the general rule on determining the service interval
is as follows. This is based on a fully exposed door to sun and weather.
This timing will provide for repair of the top layer of the finish before
its ability to filter UV rays has been entirely destroyed and before the lower
layers begin to take the bulk of the damage. Ideally, a surface maintenance
should be performed before all the UV inhibitors are used up in the outer layer
of finish. Remembering that when the UV inhibitors are used up micro-cracks
occur and the surface feels dry.
A factor that affects the interval is a protecting roof. A door deep in an
alcove will last longer than a door exposed to direct sun. But do remember,
that even the door in the alcove is exposed to reflected UV. So damage occurs
to the door in the alcove, but at a much slower rate than the door exposed
to full sun.
One of the better protections for a doors finish is having tall trees. With
tall trees near your door, UV rays are absorbed or reflected much higher up
and never reach your door.
Examples of factors that shorten the life of a finish are: exposure to sprinkler
systems or reflection of UV from large expanses of concrete such as a circular
driveway. It is advisable to make certain that the water sprinklers do not
contact or come within two feet of the door.
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