Anxious to hear from others experience, as my thermatru fiberglass double front door is installed, but not stained yet. And I hope someone has some good advice to help you.

Our thermatru door frame (pine) does not have any of the issues that you described. The stain is fine, however, it does not look just like the fiberglass door. The trim stain looks more like paint...mostly because the pine trim has zero graining. How was your weather this week? Was it as cold as the rest of the country? If so, they had no business staining your door...it was waaaaaay too cold. We had to have ours stained in the winter too, and the painters actually set-up tented tarps with space heaters around our door for several days. If you read the stain instructions, I believe that it is recommended that the temps never go below 50 degrees (maybe even warmer) during the entire stain and drying process.

Pay to have someone cap the inside of the jambs with matching aluminum (either a brown to match the door or a matching trim color). It will protect the frame and you'll be glad in years to come when you don't have to repaint.

Yes, stain generally needs 50+ temps. The wood frame could have benefited from pre-stain conditioner, which is supposed to make soft wood take stain more evenly. Apparently, it wasn't used.

I had primed (fingerjoints) pine jambs - I think my builder goofed when he ordered the door, we have all clear pine trim in the house. So I just painted the exterior (SW Duration), don't know what I'm going to do with interior - the little bit that shows b/t the door and sidelights. Thermatru says their primer is stainable, but I don't think it'll take light color well - definitely won't look like wood. Or maybe it's not *their* primer but something else builder/modular factory used.

holley - was yours primed or clear? It doesn't look like my fingerjointed cr@p, you can actually see grain on the jambs.

ajsmama, mine was natural wood - not primed. My interior is stained as well but I don't have a picture of that.

I thought it looked like oak! Short of painting, I don't know what to do with those 2 pieces on my interior. I'm covering most of the frame around the sidelights and over the whole assembly with wider trim, may replace the small amount of cove molding with natural pine, but just those 2 pieces b/t the door and sidelights (jambs) I can't think of what to do.

To the OP sorry I don't know what to tell you either. We both my have to paint. Maybe the stain is "swirly" b/c the jamb was primed? Maybe try a thicker stain like a gel stain (almost "paint" it on, don't wipe off if it's primed), or Zar oilbased stain? I used Zar Mahogany on the exterior of my door, "painted" it on rather thick and then feathered it with a dry brush. Of course that was on the fiberglas parts, but I think it might work on the wood parts too since you're using a dark color.

You can see in hollyh3kids' picture how on the trim part, the stain did not take as dark in some spots as opposed to others, that's how mine turned out, but because it is a darker stain, it is so much more exaggerated. It wasn't primed, but I wonder if they didn't treat the wood at all before staining, just started putting the stuff on.

we have a thermatru mahogany collection door with walnut stain. It seemed to have stained nicely. my only complaint was that since the door comes PINK!! since it's the mahogany collection, the dark brown stain turned out a little more red than we wanted for the exterior. We have our garage doors (wayne dalton) that have the Thermatru wood grain with walnut (but this is with the oak grain). We had the painter come back and add a little black stain/glaze over it on the exterior of the door to make it match our garage doors better. other than that, we are very happy with the graining and staining - it really looks like real wood!

mairin - did you jambs come pink too? Are they FG or wood? I wish mine looked like that - beautiful stain job!

rtorgy1 - can you post pics of your jambs?

Our jams are fiberglass. I can only assume that they were pink as well - I missed seeing those before they were installed...one day I showed up at the sight and the sidelights were in and stained already! There is a small trim piece on the interior side of the door that is wood. You can tell the difference in this picture...

Ours resembles mairin's pictures, but our walnut stain is a bit lighter in color. The mahogany collection doors are pinkish in color before staining. The jambs for that collection are pine and come primed (white). They are "meant" to be painted, however, they can be stained. Thermatru technical assistance recommends that they be sanded completely if a stain is desired. Their customer service department is very helpful. You should call them...I have several times with good results.

We have one I believe its fiber glass and our builder will paint it dark when its warm enough.

{{gwi:1403664}}

Dixie - can you post pics? I have Honey Maple (almost natural) pine trim inside, I can't imagine the stain covering the primer. But if you sand it all off (?) like I did in one spot, you can see the fingerjointing and I don't think the (gel) stain will cover that either. I *did* buy some Zar oilbased stain in similar color after I had really good results with Zar on the exterior side of the door and sidelights.

The exterior trim is white so I figured white jambs would be OK outside

Ours is thermatru mahogany also... still wonder why it has to be pink!! Mairin, was your door white trim like mine? I really wanted to have it all dark stained, but not sure the white trim would stain consistent with the door.

well, nuts. I'm just not sure if it came white or pink. The pic below is when they had just hung the sidelights. The door was there and I saw that was in it's beautiful pink stage prior to staining, so I assumed it was all 'pink'. It definitely looks to be the same graining and accepted the stain just as well as the actual door. I would ask them if you can have it stain matched to your doors? or could it be painted to match your windows?

ajsmama: love your little angel :)

Wish you had seen the sidelights and jambs b4 they were stained so you knew whether jambs were natural wood or primed. They look so nice! I don't think I can get even the Zar stain to cover SW Duration paint now though. That was the only closeup I had (without blue tape around the glass). BTW, DD was Glinda the Good Witch (decided last minute so that was tin foil crown and tulle "sleeves" stuffed in the straps of her tutu). Believe me, she's no "angel" ;-)

Here's a pic from farther back - please tell me the white jambs work and aren't too distracting! We're going to trim out under the porch (b/t Trex and stone) with the white vinyl - here just propped it up under the stairs to get an idea. So there's a lot of white (or will be) on the front of the house. Stonework is still in progress (halted for winter) too.

{{gwi:52065}}

(Before I put the doorknob back on)

stayn2busy - all you can do is try a test patch?

Door....

Here is a link that might be useful:

Jambs, which were primed (white)...

Here is a link that might be useful:

Dixie - Beautiful door!!! I think it's too late for my exterior jambs (like I said, don't think I can stain over SW Duration), but maybe the interior will take stain. Minwax gel stain on a test patch didn't work but maybe the Zar will. Are your interiors light or dark? You said you really sanded them down (to bare wood?)? Thermatru says you can stain over their primer but I can't figure out how. If you sanded to bare wood, did you see if your jambs were fingerjointed? I'm afraid with a lighter stain that the joints will show through, but I don't see them on yours.

Well, the original painters (fired...and then we had a good crew to fix the mess) painted the jambs with SW Duration (which is what all of our exterior trim is painted). I freaked out b/c it was supposed to be stained. I had already been concerned about the jambs taking stain since they were primed. Anyway, they sanded it ALL off...not quite to bare wood, but pretty close. I don't think that the jambs are fingerjointed. I've made this comment on another post previously...you will NOT be able to stain the jambs and have them look like the door. Because of the difference in grain and the difference between FG and wood, there will be a distinct difference. The color will match, but they will absolutely look different.

The interior of our house is all white trim, so we did the door jambs and trim white to match. It goes with our house, but it is not as pretty as the exterior...IMO.

My door was just installed, I will post pics tomorrow...

Bump (waiting for rtorgy1's pics)

it's really foggy here today- I can hardly see the front door! :). Will try again tomorrow.

okay, here are the pictures:

a closer up view of the trim:

see what I mean about the grain not taking the stain well? What should I do about this? (Sorry about the first picture being too small- I accidentally resized it, but don't know how to undo it :)

It's really just those top pieces - the molding/trim and the surround (from what I can see at this angle). Looks like the wood was harder there (pine?) and didn't take the stain as well as the dark areas. If Thermatru walnut 2nd coat won't cover it, then try Zar or a gel stain. Has the clear finish been applied yet?

they did apply the clear finish already- before I had even been able to see how they turned out (one of my pet peeves in this whole house building process) inside the jambs look the same also, I just couldn't get up that closely- it was really muddy. we just have a way to the garage entrance right now, and the door was sheeted off from the inside for painting.

The Zar oilbased stain is thick enough I think it would cover if they scuff-sanded the clear finish first, then "painted" the stain on. I don't know about gel stain - though supposedly you can use it over a finish as a "glaze" I don't know if it would cover dark enough at this point. Ask your painter (real painter, don't know if you have a carpenter finishing your door). They should have used a conditioner on the pine.

We just installed a walnut therma tru door - it looks great, BUT the walnut wayne dalton door arrived today and they do not match. We have the 9800 series WD garage door, specifically because they are meant to align with Therma tru doors.... Anyone else had this problem?

To Hollyh3kids:

I love the finish on your entrance and want to match it.
Can you please tell me what color of gel stain you used, and what brand? Thank you

Beware. If you had a mahogany stain kit for therma tru entry door, the color has been changed. In other words, the old mahogany is not the same as the new one. About 5 years ago, therma tru changed the Mahogany color. My problem is that when I ordered a new Mahogany Kit to refinish my 5 year old door, the new mahogany is much redder than the original. Wish they had told me when I ordered it. To make matters worse, the company rep indicated that they do not offer the old Mahogany color and would not recommend any of their current colors as a match. I was told to go out and find another brand of Oil based stain that matches my door and use that.

If you have a therma tru mahogany stain on your door and it is more than 5 years old, do not use the new Mahogany stain kit as the colors at not the same!!!!!!

I am sorry to hijack the thread, but i have to ask....the door on the hollyh3kids's photo..it has some kind of a small shelf...Does it have a purpose or just decorative? We have the exact same door in our new house and i am wondering what it is made for.... (i am not american so i thought maybe it has something to do with traditions?)
thanks

Yes, we have one. We've had them in the past and loved them. But this one looks awful on the inside. Basically a really botched stain job. Looks OK on the outside, but still not as good as I'd like. Still working with our builder to get it resolved. He's hired a new painter who thinks he can fix it. Sure hope so.

Outside view

Inside view

To Olmstke,

i am in the ordering process of same doors, for the exact same reason you did. To match. So, what I was told is that therma Tru outsources the staining, and if I understood correctly, is that the company used, uses their own stain products, which do not match. And, different stains are different colors depending in door selected. We like the rustic door, but I'm guessing it has a mahagony skin on it, giving it the red hue. I'm curious, what product seems like it's not true to color, the garage or entry door?

@hollyh3kids hi Holly, i realize your comment is 12 years old and there is a very slim chance this will reach you or you know what stain brand and color you used on your door. i have had our doors for almost two months and cannot find a stain i like. i love your stain on your door! If this reaches you could you share please