This post has been one I’ve been meaning to write but with all the other junk going on after Harvey (I cannot believe it’s almost been one year!!), time just constantly gets away from me.  I’d like to share what worked and what didn’t when I stained and finished this mahogany door.

First, we purchased this door from Door Clearance Center.  A great deal for wrought iron accents and solid wood.

I knew what color I wanted and after a bit of research I determined that indoor stains can be used as long as they are finished with exterior grade spar urethane.  So I ordered the lovely color Java from General Finishes.  I fell in love with General Finishes when re-doing my kitchen cabinets, so I thought their water based stain would be just as awesome.  WRONG!  I got one side of the door done and noticed it was making the grain really rough and this was after sanding it beforehand.  Yuck.  I could not get it to go down – not even after waiting 3 days for it to dry.  Therefore, that mess was sanded off completely and I started over with my favorite stain of all time Kona by Rustoleum.

Whew!  After the staining incident, I was ready to start the clear coat process.  Now this can be extremely time consuming and with Houston’s humidity further worsening and lengthening drying time, this is why this project was done indoors.  I chose to use MAN OF WAR spar urethane.  It’s reviews are great and with our east facing house, we need all the protection we can get! Be forewarned though, this stuff is like painting with honey.  It is sticky and cannot be thinned per the manufacturers directions.  Each coat takes 12-14 hours to dry before you can lightly sand with 320 grit and re-coat.  Most DIY-ers and professionals recommend a minimum of 3 coats.  So I was happy when I completed 4…then I was not so happy.

We hung it up and…

Do you see that?  Those LINES in the finish. OMG I cannot tolerate it.  I took the door back down and looked more closely…yep, they were there.  Brush strokes from Hell.  I even used a superb quality brush and was very mindful of sanding between coats, but they were still visible.

I sanded the heck out of that door AGAIN and used 220 grit this time, checking for brush marks in natural light.  Finally, I sanded them smooth and reapplied the Man of War molasses-type stuff for the 5th and 6th times using a Wooster brand sponge brush.  I found the trick was to only brush in one direction and get more on the brush than you think is necessary so the product can self-level as it dries.  Finally, after what seemed like a never ending project we have a beautifully finished mahogany door.