I need to replace my front door with two side lites and was just going to get a painted steel door, but the owner of the store saw me looking at their stained fiberglass display door and said he would sell it to me for 50% off as he wants to get rid of it and put a more modern model on display. It's a craftsman style door. It's a premium fiberglass door with three point multi lock and at 50% off would basically cost me just a bit more than the painted steel door. My concern is that I'm south facing, though I'm in Quebec so a typical summer day would be around 70-80F. I would imagine the sun would take a toll on the door, from what I understood it would be advisable to brush on a coat of UV protection on the door every 2-3 years to keep it looking good. Those of you with fiberglass doors with wood grain, stained to mimic wood, how much maintenance is required? How often do you refresh the UV coating/sealer? How much has the original finished degraded over what period of time for you? I just don't want to take on something that's going to be super high maintenance, or require stripping and re-staining from scratch, compared to a painted steel door which seems like a get it and forget it kind of thing. Thanks!

I have a south faced fiberglass faux wood door in my Connecticut house where typical July days can be weeks of 90 s. It is ten years old. I re gel stained, no sanding just cleaned with tsp first once for it turned redder about five years after install with no prior maintenance. I now spend about ten minutes once per year cleaning with tsp and apply poly sealer.. It is very easy to DIY . Much better maintance than my real wood side door and so much prettier than my painted steal back door. People ask me how I have keep my 90 year old door looking so good. Everyone thinks it is the orginal wood door to the house until I tell them.

I believe your garage door is only warrantied for acrylic or water-based paints. No spray paint. Get a good acrylic primer and then just paint the color you prefer.

I agree with cat_ky, he should order a new door slab and finish it properly. With that may layers of primer and stain it is just going to be muddy looking, no way the grain will look natural. Or get a discount and paint the door...