jayelwin

Hello,

My newly renovated house now has a beautiful front door made of solid quartersawn white oak. It is a west facing door and is on a 10 foot deep, 30 foot wide front porch very well protected from any real direct sun and rain (New Jersey). It's a big thick door made out of solid wood (it cost enough!). The 300 square foot front porch has a plantation mahogany plank floor that's treated with a Cabot outdoor wood sealer that is slightly pigmented and brings out a real rich red mahogany color. The ceiling of the porch is mahogany bead board, and the top of the railing is an african mahogany finished with tung oil which really brought out it's natural reddish browns. The house is sided with red cedar stained with olympic Honey Gold toner.

Now I know I'm dealing with a lot of different woods here. But it all really works. The door is surrounded by painted clap so it is not actually next to any wood, it sort of stands alone. I want to introduce a bit of redness to the wood but I don't want it to look to artificially colored (you know, like when you stain beech a dark red - it was never meant to be that color). And I also want to protect it from the elements. It does not have to be shiny so I want to avoid any polys (which will craze and yellow anyway). Should I use a Cabot like wood sealer with a bit of color? Does it need any top coat? I do have two small 3" x 3" pieces of leftover wood from the sill that I can test a few swatches on, any advice where to start.

Thanks.