Oak doors.

ronnyb

Spent the last few days fitting some new oak veneer doors in the house. Keeps the wife happy cos I've spent quite a bit on new guitars recently! Any ideas as to what to finish them with would be appreciated. I used Danish oil on one several years ago and didn't really like it. Ideally I think they need sealing as one of them is on the bathroom, moisture etc. Probably prefer a matt finish. 

exocet

Danish Oil.....why didn't you like it?  I have Oak Veneer doors and used Danish on them. Has lasted many years, has a matt finish etc, works in bathroom location as well.

revsorg

A couple of years ago we had a local carpenter rebuild our airing cupboard in our bathroom in a mixture of oak and oak veneered MDF.  He finished it in  yacht varnish, and we're now at the stage where it needs too be refinished.   I thought it would be longer before it needed refinishing and I'm not looking forward to sanding it off, but I guess I'll have to.  I'm wondering if we would have been better off using Danish oil and just accepting that it needs a new coat every couple of years.

ROOG

ronnyb said:

Spent the last few days fitting some new oak veneer doors in the house. Keeps the wife happy cos I've spent quite a bit on new guitars recently! Any ideas as to what to finish them with would be appreciated. I used Danish oil on one several years ago and didn't really like it. Ideally I think they need sealing as one of them is on the bathroom, moisture etc. Probably prefer a matt finish. 

Wow that sounds so much like my situation last year. :0)
I finished mine in satin finish varnish. quite durable and not at all glossy.  Lifted the grain a bit which was a shame, (agreed they needed sealing!).

ROOG

ROOG said:

ronnyb said:

Spent the last few days fitting some new oak veneer doors in the house. Keeps the wife happy cos I've spent quite a bit on new guitars recently! Any ideas as to what to finish them with would be appreciated. I used Danish oil on one several years ago and didn't really like it. Ideally I think they need sealing as one of them is on the bathroom, moisture etc. Probably prefer a matt finish. 

Wow that sounds so much like my situation last year. :0)
I finished mine in satin finish varnish. quite durable and not at all glossy.  Lifted the grain a bit which was a shame, (agreed they needed sealing!).

@ronnyb The paper work that came with my oak veneered doors did advise against oiling them, although I'm not sure why.  

Budgie

Osmo door oil is good. I'd use Danish oil personally but just apply it in light coats with a lint free cloth. It goes on really quickly, then if you want more of a sheen finish with wax... Briwax clear is good. The danger is the veneer bubbling (more likely with waterbased finishes) or even delaminating. I refurbish bits of mid century furniture sometimes and it's mostly veneered and I have never had an issue with oil finishes or wax. Saying that, it depends on the veneer.

rsvmark

Osmo is nice but expensive. Try waxoil as an alternative.

ronnyb

rsvmark said:

Osmo is nice but expensive. Try waxoil as an alternative.

Waxoil? I haven't time to rustproof my car as well, Ive more doors to hang. As regards the Danish oil I put it on an internal front entrance door (the one in the hall separating the porch from the external upvc door) With it being a well used door I found the edges got marked and a bit grubby with people either pushing it open or closing it and not using the door handle. I have read somewhere that using an oil on a veneered door can cause the veneer to lift because it soaks through the wood to the glue.   

DiscoStu

Danish Oil or Briwax. 

rsvmark

ronnyb said:

rsvmark said:

Osmo is nice but expensive. Try waxoil as an alternative.

Waxoil? I haven't time to rustproof my car as well, Ive more doors to hang. As regards the Danish oil I put it on an internal front entrance door (the one in the hall separating the porch from the external upvc door) With it being a well used door I found the edges got marked and a bit grubby with people either pushing it open or closing it and not using the door handle. I have read somewhere that using an oil on a veneered door can cause the veneer to lift because it soaks through the wood to the glue.   

Sorry, senior moment. Hard wax oil by Treatex http://www.ukoakdoors.co.uk/oils-and-waxes/internal-door-treatments/treatex-hardwax-oils

Fretwired

I have a solid oak front door that's 90 years old .. a used a special oil that brought out the grain of the wood and looked lovely. It's lasted as well as I last did the door in 1999. I have a tin somewhere so I'll dig it out .. it wasn't Danish oil. A chippy told me not to use Danish oil on an oak door.

exocet

Tung Oil? Osmo?

ronnyb

Anybody used Ronseal Matt varnish or similar? 

Budgie

This stuff from Polyvine may be worth looking at, I use it on picture frames. Like any wood finish, you are always better off applying several thinner coats than flooding it trying to do it in one coat.

http://www.polyvine.com/index.php/en/varnishes/water-based-varnishes/wax-finish-varnish ;

I apply several coats when using Danish oil. On sideboard tops, coffee tables etc, where there is likely to be wear, I use a spray lacquer from Rustoleum and then wax to finish. I've just refinished a 1950s Danish coffee table which has oak veneer and the above worked fine.

there's loads of info out there... YouTube is decent for wood finishing stuff.

Dominic

Osmo or better still Blanchon ………we do this in our joinery every day of the week

Dodge

Local carpenter to me said oak doesn't like varnish finishes at all, and that he exclusively uses boiled linseed oil.  My builder on the other hand uses osmo oil on external oak (e.g. lintels) and says 2 or 3 coats will last a lifetime.

exocet

All I know is that I applied Liberon Danish Oil with lint free cloth to around 11 oak veneered doors (2 of them bathroom) around 6 years ago. I haven't touched them since and they still look good - even the bathroom doors which are exposed to a lot of moisture.

57Deluxe

Danish Oil is great for the first full coat and subsequent 2 or3 coats, but build-up and the inconsistency between manufacturing/batches/storage conditions and then it will start getting glossy...

ronnyb

Looks like a landslide for Osmo then.

boogieman

Dodge said:

Local carpenter to me said oak doesn't like varnish finishes at all, and that he exclusively uses boiled linseed oil.

I don't know why, oak isn't an oily wood so it takes varnish with absolutely no problems. I did the banister rail in my old place with polyurethane varnish and it worked fine. 

NelsonP

Another vote for Osmo