Front Door & Sidelight Refinish

An Excelsior front door and sidelights scraped, sanded, gel-stained to match the garage door, and sealed with two coats of spar varnish.

Location: Excelsior, MN
Completed: August 2021
Duration: 2 days
Setting: Occupied home

Before: Front door and sidelights: faded orange finish to a deep brown gel stain under spar varnish — Front door and sidelights: faded orange finish to a deep brown gel stain under spar varnish

After: Front door and sidelights: faded orange finish to a deep brown gel stain under spar varnish — Front door and sidelights: faded orange finish to a deep brown gel stain under spar varnish

Drag the handle to compare before and after.

About this project

A front entry takes more weather and daily wear than almost any other surface on a house, and this Excelsior door was ready for a refresh. We scraped and sanded the existing finish back on both the door and its sidelights, then hand-matched a gel stain to a sample from the garage door so the two would read as a set from the curb. Two coats of spar varnish sealed everything in with a finish built to handle sun and Minnesota winters alike. It’s a compact project — usually done in a day or two — but it’s one of the highest-impact changes you can make to a home’s first impression.