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Stain or not stain a new custom solid mahogony front door?

Yasir Khan| Posted inInterior Designon

Hello All,

Just had our custom front door (10 ‘x 14’) in solid mahogany delivered & installed but not sure whether we should stain it or not?

Wife prefers a reddish stain (makes it look richer) but the wood work guy says leave it alone and just clear coat it using a oil based polyurethane coat and be done with it.

Can I get some feedback here?

Thanks

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Replies

  1. Charlie Sullivan||#1

    Can you get some scraps of the same wood and try both finishes?

  2. Bob Irving||#2

    Stain is permanent and may or may not look like you think it will; there are a lot of factors affecting the final color, starting with the exact color of those pieces of wood. I advise people to learn to enjoy the natural colors of the wood, and watch it get richer over time.

  3. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay||#3

    Yasir,
    Either way will work (assuming that you install polyurethane in either case). This is an aesthetic issue, so only you can decide which approach looks better.

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