The solid vertical grain doug fir doors in my new house started with a suggestion in this thread for Second Growth Woodcraft ( http://douglasfirdoors.com ). Definitely worth a look if you are shopping for excellent prices on top-quality doug fir doors. The details... The website says all the right things with just the right emphasis, IMHO. References all checked out. Basil, the shop owner, is perfectly modest & a pleasure to work with. He even e-mailed photos of the doors being made. Lead time was about 10 weeks. Ordered 17 two-panel rectangular doors with arched top rails and beveled tongue & groove planks for the panels. Pre-hung on solid doug fir jambs. Payment in Canadian dollars all worked out. Shipment from B.C. Canada to northern California added about 10%, but thanks to NAFTA no taxes or duties. Arrived well-packed in perfect shape. We finished them with clear satin lacquer & they are absolutely beautiful. About 6 months old now and not even a hint of warping. My contractor & architect were so impressed that their next client is lined up to get doors from Basil too. Thanks Basil! Here is a link that might be useful: Second Growth Woodcraft

We used Original Waterlox, which is all we could find in our area. Had I been able to wait, I would have tried the satin for a few more coats. Thus, I can't speak to the level of sheen that might ultimately result on a purely Waterloxed floor. The Original has a pretty hard gloss to it. As is so often the case with DIY, we were utterly under the gun to get the floor done by moving time, so between that and our concern about splinters, we used an oil-based poly (Fabulon) for the final coat. It has held up beautifully -- even in the bathroom -- I contacted the Waterlox folks and they said they couldn't foresee a problem using an oil-based urethane over it (water-based might be a different matter?). Waterlox (regular and low VOC) does have an extremely penetrating odor, worse than regular poly, just FYI for planning purposes. You won't want to be inside with it for a few days.

Hi, Thanks for the suggestion. Couple more questions: (1) Is the "Sikkens Cetol Door & Window" a penetrating oil or waterborne? (2) What stain/sealer color do you recommend to go on first. We want a light doug fir look but would like to see some of the grain to make it pop more. (3) Any idea where they sell Sikkens in San Francisco bay area? I've called couple Ben Moore resellers and they do not have it.

We are in Sedona, AZ -- it will snow occasionally in the winter (but melts right away) and the temperature can get up to low 100s (rarelyl) in the summer. The exterior posts/beams are also rough sawn douglas fir beams and posts. I've attached two photos -- the top photo shows the side of one of the interior posts (before it was sandblasted) and if you look out through the patio door area you'll see an exterior post and beam. The lower photo shows the same veranda area viewed from the back yard. So, with the exterior posts/beams visible from the interior of the home. would it look odd for the interior posts/beams to be a different color than the exterior posts/beams? Thanks for sharing your thoughts!