Repairing and protecting an antique pine exterior door

[Jables27]

Hi,

Before I went away on holiday I got my Victorian front door professionally stripped, neutralised, dried and sanded. The poor thing was truly 'landlord specialed' with too many coats of old gloss.

Now its time to take on the project of repainting but the stripping process has revealed some damage and rot on the exterior facing side that I need to tackle first. Unfortunatley, some parts of the moulding look like they might have to be replaced entirely but I'd love to save as much of this gorgeous wood as possible so please advise!

I also need helpful suggestions for products that are best to use on wood this old and that are appropriate for exterior environments to harden the wood, protect from future rot and fill gaps and damage.

I intend to paint with a primer and undercoat from knuckles and then finish with a lovely red satin exterior door paint, also from Knuckles.

 

[mardinor]

The 'correct' answer is to get a joiner to run off a copy moulding. But it will cost more than the door.

If it were me, I'd soak that profile liberally with wood hardener, then fill all gaps with various products from RepairCare or Timbabuild. These systems are specifically designed to tackle this kind of problem, more typically in window restoration. They seem expensive, but flex and work. Used to repair totally rotten window cills 10 years ago and still perfect. You'd get it all repaired in a weekend.

Beautiful door and nice colour choice.