Any Opinions On Sikkens Cetol Door And Window Finish?

DeanV

How well does this stuff do compared to BM or Old Masters Spar on exterior doors? I know guys who have used 2-part marine epoxy and 2 part acrylic urethanes ($100+ /gallon and are not getting 3 years without having to remove the coatings and start over. How will the Sikkens compare? Can it go over old Spar coatings?

I do maintenance on condo's that have 30 year old spar doors and they periodically call to have the doors just touched up. Most of the doors went for at least 10 years without regular maintenance. At best, some of the places get one coat of spar every 5 years. Scrape peeling finish, sand, blend colors with stain, and throw another coat of Spar on it. This really does not work well and I want to try to get them to either replace the entry ways with new doors and side lights, or see if they can budget for stripping them down and starting over.

I took over these condos from the painter I used to work for and want to change the procedure for the front doors and am trying to come up with a proposal for the management companies that will offer the best for all parties involved.

Any input appreciated. By the way, I am in MI, so excellent flexibility is a must and why spars and most other finishes fail here, they cannot take the extremes from the cold, dry winters to the humid and relatively hot summers.

MakDeco

The ones that I have done with it, I do a maintenance coat every year looks fine after a year so can't say how it looks much beyond that. I do like the product tho, much easier to work with then spar.

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DeanV

I would like to be able to get them to have a maintenance coat at least every other year. I think that is the best I can realistically hope for. I do not know if I will be able to sell them on replacing or a complete strip though, hopefully switching products and more regular maintenance will help prevent additional problems.

gideond

I'm not to fond of it myself. It looks good and lasts longer since it stays flexible. No cracking like spar. However it is too soft in my opinion. I've done test application on several woods and left them out in full sun for several days to dry. I can peel the product off with my fingernail. I haven't dared try it on an actual door yet. I've had one customer use it and hated it. Her door was still sticking in the frame a month after application.

Humble Abode

I've only done one door with the Door & Window and I liked it. I didn't have the same problem Gideon did. It was dry after about 8 days.

The nice thing about a stain sealer as opposed to a varnish is you don't have to strip it every time you just clean it and apply one more coat. If you have a door that will not be in full sunlight all day you can easily sell a maintenance coat every three years on it. It won't need more.

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Milwaukee Painting Contractor

DeanV

Isn't the Cetol a film building product, more comparable to a varnish? I have more to learn about the Sikkens line, they have a lot of different stuff than the regular paint companies, so I could be wrong.

gideond

Yes it is film building. If you want to try it I'd recommend making sure you have very warm dry weather and a lot of sunlight on it after application. Most of Sikken NewWave products require UV curing, unlike their older product lines. We were just recently told that if you apply their new DEK Finish on a covered porch where there is no sun it'll take several months to cure.

DeanV

Wow, that sounds bad. I cannot understand why they would make a product that would not cure properly in full shade. Do they not have north facing sides to buildings in Sweden?

gideond

It's because of how much solvent they've had to take out to meet VOC regulations. The older products had plenty of solvent in them to evaporate. Once it evaporated the product was cured pretty solid. Now there is a higher solid rate with less evaporation plus they are making the films more flexible now to try and avoid cracking so it's requiring a lot more UV to cure the products since evaporation doesn't do the job nearly so well now.

MakDeco

I agree with the statement with DEK on cover porch and I was told by my Sikkens dealer not to use DEK it on a cover porch.

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poppysfinishes

I have a customer with cedar windows and doors in Arizona I have been refinishing wood for 15 - 20 years. There is not that many products that will work in our weather like cwf I was told about silkens and I was looking for some feedback on this subject

Metro M & L

It looks cool to start. But if you get a blem your f'd. It's gummy gooey gunk that can't really be sanded. Plus the color builds each coat. Four or five coats in it's going to be DARK. Dries slooow, even in full sun.

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