# Staining and Varnishing A Fiberglass Door



## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

Did my first one a couple weeks back, and here's my thoughts.

The door design is really neat, the two sidelights open up for ventilation.

All in all, I don't get the whole fiberglass door thing. The core is still wood. You still have to varnish it every year or two, as per manufacturer instructions. I don't live in a place with extreme temperature swings, so maybe it's just overkill for my area.

As far as finishing, what a pain in the ass. I read alot here and over at painttalk before embarking, and someone said staining is somewhere between painting and staining. That is a very good observation, however, the coat has to be so thin, it's almost like you just want to wet the surface, that's it.

The door was a Therma-tru, and I thought the quality was not the best. It was missing plugs on one side, which I've had to order, and there were spots on the door where it just woulld not take stain, so there are little white spots in the middle of the door. The molding stained completely differently than the panels, also. They didn't really take stain at all, it just built up in the grain.

I was expecting it to absorb stain, but it does not at all. Think of it like staining a sheet of acrylic. 

After all is said and done, I don't think it looks like a wood door. It looks like a plastic door with fake wood grain. When I began, I thought I'd never do one again, but it turned out o.k., and the customer is happy, and I know a little more about how it goes, so I guess I'd do one again. I would never put one in my house, though. I think wood is so much better, and no less maintanence is needed.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

Oh, and one more thing.

Forget foam brushes. I use them for varnish on wood, and get great results, but they didn't work at all with this. I used Picasso brushes for stain and varnish. Rags didn't work at all, either.

I also read that you could use a rag lightly wetted with mineral spirits to even out the stain. That failed to work for me, also. All it did was remove all the stain down to bare fiberglass. I was, however, using a very light colored stain.


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## Nick D (Jun 11, 2013)

Fiberglas will not absorb stain, as you have found, and it definitely will not resemble wood. In many cases, gel coat is used to paint it, in order to provide a uniform finish.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

Sometimes you have to prime the door before stainging to achieve the desired color if you are matching existing wood. 
At the very least you should always clean the door with alcohol or some other solvent to remove impurities on the surface of the door. 
I just finished a job woodgraining and staining 4 steel six panel doors. They had to match the color and grain of the existing stained trim. It sucked. Still having nightmares.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

How does that work, priming a door and then using transparent stain??


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## Rbnsb5 (May 5, 2013)

Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:


> How does that work, priming a door and then using transparent stain??


My guess would be to prime it a color that is very similar to the stain. No expert on this. Just taking a stab.


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## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

A customer had a guy come into a job I was doing who made dark stained oak cabinets look like natural light oak. He was a master at this and taught a class for it. He used a undercoat flat paint that was sort of a neutral color (flesh color) and then did his magic creating the grain pattern, and then top coated it with a protective urethane. Even looking at the cabinets close up, it was very hard to tell he faux painted them. :smile:


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## slowsol (Aug 27, 2005)

For some amazing faux graining, check out Michael Tust's pictures in the "Faux Finishes" sub forum.

Here's one:

http://www.contractortalk.com/f19/grained-front-door-118965/


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

Were you using the therma tru stain kit?


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## JHC (Jun 4, 2010)

Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:


> How does that work, priming a door and then using transparent stain??





Rbnsb5 said:


> My guess would be to prime it a color that is very similar to the stain. No expert on this. Just taking a stab.


No you want a base paint that would be close to the desired unfinished wood color. Different shades of brown or tan depending on what you are trying to accomplish. 

I have done many fiberglass doors that the layperson would never know is actually not wood. Thats the great thing, if you mess up with your first try simply paint it a base color and redo it.


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## Rbnsb5 (May 5, 2013)

JHC said:


> No you want a base paint that would be close to the desired unfinished wood color. Different shades of brown or tan depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
> 
> I have done many fiberglass doors that the layperson would never know is actually not wood. Thats the great thing, if you mess up with your first try simply paint it a base color and redo it.


Ok. That makes sense.


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## Lanya LaPunta (Oct 31, 2010)

I am not a big fan of fiberglass, or metal for that matter, doors.

However, when I have been faced with a "finish" task, viz-a-viz the fiberglass stuff, I have found that a somewhat traditional glazing technique gives a rather acceptable (special emphasis upon "acceptable) end result.

Two coats of a base coat (similar to an actual paint), close to the color of the end result (eg: matching a stain grade wood finished casing). This, as in most traditional glazing is brush applied. Do not even contemplate rolling, foam brush, or spraying.

Then a decorative glaze (your color choice ... I prefer a much darker shade than the base coat) ... this must also be brush applied,

Then the finish coat ... which can be brushed or sprayed.

Satin works out better than gloss or semi-gloss.

And, of course ... going back to the first step prior to the base coat ... degloss the heck out of the door prior to the base coat. TSP or bottled deglosser seem to both work quite well.

I ain't that much of a finish guy, nor am I a fan of fiberglass doors.

However, when faced with the task, what is referenced above, has given me the most acceptable results.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

Patrick said:


> Were you using the therma tru stain kit?


No. I used a gel stain and varnish.

Didn't know they had a finish kit.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

There are a few ways to woodgrain a steel door. You can use a woodgraining too or kinda freehand it with a dry brush to make whatever grain you need to match. 
You can use wood stain, gel stain, or a glaze. I used Zar stain over tinted primer on the last ones I did. Zar is a thick stain, not as thick as a gel, but pretty thick compared to most stains. 
I usually match the primer by eye to the lighter color in the stained sample piece. 
I can do it and make it come out pretty good, but I have seen a lot of guys who blow me out of the water with what they can do.


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