Refinishing exterior Fir wood doors

[c97459]

I am installing a new $$$ exterior solid wood door made of fir. The house has three other doors that need attention. The 2 of the three doors were sealed with Watco and the other Watco covered with paint.

1. Has anyone ever tried stripping Watco? Is it possible? How is it done?
2. On the new door I wanted to use a Varathane redwood stain under Watco exterior clear oil.

My goal is a redwood natural look and maintain every 2 years with Watco. We live on the Oregon coast high humid rainy area.

Curious what you think. I want the doors to look somewhat similar. Replacing the other 3 doors isn't going to happen because the cost is out of site$$$$$

Thank you in advance. YIKES STILL NO COMMENTS. i AM GUESSING YOU CAN'T STRIP WATCO????

[Woodenfish]

I have a vertical grain Douglas Fir front entry door on my home in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. The door faces East and is covered by roof over front porch. When new the door was stained with an oil finish and finished with two coats of satin spar urethane. The finish was just redone after about 20 years this spring. I scuffed the original finish and applied General Finishes Gel stain and two more thin coats of satin Varathane spar varnish. I haven’t used Watco oil finishes in 25 years. Back then they sold it in colors. Perhaps adding a dye to the clear Watco would give you what you are looking for in one step. Watco has been sold several times I believe and no longer see the colors I once used. But I haven’t kept up with that finish in a long time. I would be concerned having a danish oil finish outdoors and could not personally recommend it.

[fredhargis]

Watco is (I think) an oil varnish mix, with lots of solvents. The problem may be that the oil component has penetrated the wood slightly and you won't remove that part with just a sanding or a stripping. I would also bet that the weak film the oil formed will make the staining process work quite not like you expect. The oil will have sealed the wood, so the new stain will more or less lay on top of it, instead of penetrating the wood as most of them do. It will be more of a glaze than a stain. The Stripping should remove the varnish component, but the oil will be left behind to some extant. At least that is what I would expect to happen. I'd reevaluate your plan, like woodenfish I would use a danish oil on a door....or anything else that's exposed to the weather.