Osmo drying time

[Student]

I’m about to sort out our oak front door. It was fitted about 20 or more years ago and, since then, I’m not sure whether it has had any attention. The current finish is some sort of Cuprinol type oak stain which has held up well but is starting to peel off, not surprising when the door faces south and gets the full force of the sun from an hour after sunrise to about a couple of hours before sunset.

I’ve previously used Osmo PolyX for various interior projects, furniture, window sills and floorboards so decided to use Osmo UV on the front door. My question is about drying times. Osmo says 12 hours. At best, I’m only likely to start work at 9.30 am although putting on each coat should only take half an hour or 45 minutes. However, this still means that the oil may not be dry until late evening and I can’t leave the door open that long. So, can I use packing tape, masking tape or the like over the rubber seal on the door frame or should I leave the door edge till the following day when I just coat the edge in 5 minutes first thing?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Petehpkns]

Hi, I’ve just used the same, it will stay tacky for around 8 hours depending on conditions. I’d suggest waiting as long as you can and use cling film, worked for me.....

 

[Steliz]

If the original finish is peeling off then it is not a stain as that would soak into the wood. It sounds more like a varnish. which you would have to remove if you want to apply Osmo.
I recently used a hardwax/oil (not Osmo but similar) on a coffee table and I could put 2 coats per day on it if I timed it right. Trying to do the same on a door in situ sounds challenging.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

PolyX and the UV resistant one are very different. If you're used to PolyX, don't expect the UV resistant one to behave the same way.

 

[Student]

Pete – thanks for the info; I’d forgotten about using cling film to prevent sticking.

Steliz – as you say, the existing finish is probably varnish but I’d already decided to strip the existing finish off the door back to the bare wood as it’s peeling badly.

Phil – thanks for the tip-off.

Now to start stripping the door.

 

[Trevanion]

I've used quite a bit of the Osmo UV protection oil with the WR base coat underneath (One coat WR, three UV) on external oak joinery before. I don't rate it particularly highly as it seems to really lose its colour and protection and allows the oak to silver up after a few months and will need quite a bit of remedial maintenance to keep it looking good. You really need to apply it extremely conservatively if you want it to dry properly, I've had stuff stay tacky for well over a week if too much is put on.

 

[MikeG.]

I've used quite a bit of the Osmo UV protection oil with the WR base coat underneath (One coat WR, three UV) on external oak joinery before. I don't rate it particularly highly as it seems to really lose its colour and protection and allows the oak to silver up after a few months.............

I did a project where I specified the Osmo UV stuff, and so looked into it in some depth beforehand. It isn't suitable for use on horizontal surfaces.....only vertical ones. And it doesn't deal with edges well. As it happened the oak in my project were 4 round columns, almost vertical, and mainly sheltered with an open roof over. It has stood up remarkably well. I know they haven't followed the maintenance schedule I specified, but frankly, you wouldn't know. So, whilst it is extremely finicky about where it will work, in the right (limited) circumstances it can work very well indeed.