Front Door Refinishing Made Easy: A Better Option for Painting Contractors
- Louis Jasso
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
As a wood coatings professional, I see contractors constantly battling the same issues: slow-drying products that monopolize their time and finishes that fail prematurely, leading to unhappy clients and unpaid callbacks.
The biggest culprit on exterior doors? Traditional spar varnish. It’s a legacy product that simply can’t keep up with the demands of a modern painting business. This article breaks down why and introduces a system designed for the speed and durability your business requires.
The Real Cost of Spar Varnish on a Job Site
While familiar, oil-based spar urethane has critical flaws that directly impact your workflow and profitability:
Excessive Downtime: It requires a minimum of 4 hours between coats and a full 24 hours before light use after the final coat. This makes it impossible to complete a door in a single visit.
Guaranteed Yellowing: The technical data admits "slight ambering may be experienced," altering the true color of the wood and staining, which can lead to client disappointment.
Difficult Maintenance: The only way to properly maintain it is by sanding the surface before applying a maintenance coat. When the finish eventually cracks and peels, it requires complete stripping—a labor-intensive job you have to price into your next service.
A Modern Alternative Designed for Professionals
Our Exterior Clear Door Finish is an water-based topcoat engineered specifically for professional door refinishing. It outperforms spar varnish in every category that matters to a contractor.
Build a Better Business Model
This isn't just a product; it's a system that enables a more profitable service.
Finish Doors in a Single Day: With a dry-to-touch time of just one hour, you can apply multiple coats and re-hang the door in the same visit, freeing up your schedule for more jobs.
Offer Superior UV Protection: This finish is designed to be lightly toned with colorant (0.1-0.5%) to maximize its built-in UV absorbers. This creates a "factory finish" look that prevents the sun's graying effects and significantly outperforms clear spar urethane, which relies only on UV blockers in a film that ambers.
Create Recurring Revenue with Easy Maintenance: The best feature for your business is the maintenance. The finish is "soft to the touch" and designed to be recoated
without sanding. You can sell clients on an annual maintenance program where you simply clean the door and apply a fresh coat—a quick, high-margin service call.
The Takeaway
If you are still dedicating two days to refinishing one front door with an oil-based product, you are leaving money on the table.
Switching to a modern, water-based acrylic system allows you to deliver a more durable, factory-like finish in a fraction of the time. You can complete more jobs, charge premium rates for a superior product, and build a recurring revenue stream through simple annual maintenance.
Ready to upgrade your workflow? Visit our website to see the technical data for yourself and request a sample.
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