Mahogany door - directly apply top coat?

[lucy_m_stevens]

Hi,

I have a new unfinished mahogany door. It will be under a porch, but is south facing and does get morning to early afternoon sun exposure, especially on lower half of the door.

I see the suggestions strongly recommending a marine varnish. My real question is... "Can the varnish be directly applied to the unfinished wood?" I have spot tested a stain (walnut) and I also spot tested a clear spar varnish and the color is essentially the same. Since the color seemed nearly identical, I was wondering if I could skip a stain and simply go straight to the varnish?

Many thanks!

[Bobby Slack]

I use a three coat system by Sikkens. Cetol 1 and 23. The beauty of Sikkens is the maintenance procedure in year 3 - 5 and so on.

[thewoodwhisperer]

Well if your door is mahogany, I say skip the stain. Its a beautiful wood that will darken with time. So just let nature take its course. And to answer your question, yes you can apply your finish directly to the raw wood. Just give it a light 180 or 220 grit sanding to smooth everything out. And for your first coat, it doesn't hurt to dilute a little bit for deeper absorption. Let that first coat soak in deep and then start applying full-strength coats for every coat thereafter. If you use a product like Epifanes, I think they actually recommend building up to full strength over the course of 3-4 coats.

[AceHoleInOne]

Now I'm not completely familiar with the mahogany. But don't the wood change color with UV like cherry? That it darkens. Do a little research, but perhaps before you clear-coat your door, put the door out in the sun to give it a sunburn, then clear-coat with a good outdoor coating. Or maybe even a stain to help with the color change down the road since the sun hits the lower part of the door which should go darker?

-Ace-.