The Pain of Urethane

Yes, you read that right. Last week while Larry was home, I asked him to help me sand and refinish our front door. It had been abused by the sun and weather the last few years and needed some TLC. I also wanted to stain it a nice brownish-red. To make a long story short, we attempted a general sanding followed by an oil based stain. The result was awful. We ended up having to sand it down to raw wood and then apply the stain I had wanted. Unfortunately, the day spent on the first, disastrous attempt, took up our finishing time. That was left to me to do.

I have never really enjoyed using urethanes because they have no give. What I mean by that is that there is no flexibility in using it. You make a mistake like a unnoticed drip, or left a gooey rub on the finish, you can't just wipe it out, you have to sand it down and start all over. Big pain in the butt. I felt like with the weather and hot sun, we needed a good protective finish for the door. The one that was specifically for sun and water protection was a spar urethane. I always read the directions carefully to make sure I am doing it correctly, and I have to say I am pretty happy with the results.



It came out rather lovely. This is after my second coat, and it has the nice shine I was hoping for. Both the stain and the urethane brought out the grain and knots in the wood. It is not perfect, at least not up close (is anything?). There were some tricky spots that were hard to get to when sanding. Those areas are a little scratched up, but one could also say it looks "antiqued." There is also a small drip that I missed under the door handle, but unless your looking for it, you can't see it.

I still have to do the trim around the door, which I am not looking forward to tackling, but when all is said and done I think I will be very pleased. The best thing about doing it is that I don't have to worry about the wood being protected for the summer. I can add a new layer of urethane every 1-2 years (so says the can) to keep its beauty.

My neighbors think I am nuts. One of them asked how I know how to do all this stuff. I am the Jack of all Trades type. I am a master observer. I can pick things up quickly. In addition, I don't get stuck in the his/hers roles. If I want to do something, then I will teach myself and do it. That is just the way I am. The desire has to be there first and foremost. Then the willingness to learn and try my best. That is pretty much my prescription for life really. I may discover I don't like doing it and won't do it again. I may decide I love it and will try and improve at it. Most of the time though, it is the learning and discovering that I love, not the mastering of the skill. I could really care less about how good I am at any given thing. Trying new things is what makes me happy. Varnish away.....