Too late to help now but maybe someone else will benefit. I gel stained my Pella fiberglass entry door 6.5 years ago and it looked great! Used Minwax gel stain and their spar varnish, as directed by Pella. However, it did not stand up to weather at all. It chipped and had to be varnished again every 6 months. This Spring it chipped all the way through to the fiberglass and pulled stain with it! Believe me, I did everything properly. My door faces south east and has no roof. But a neighbor whose fiberglass door faces north had the same trouble - he used the same products as I. My neighbor got disgusted and stripped his down to fiberglass and restained it with Sikkens products 3 years ago. No trouble since. Sikkens makes a Door and Window stain that does not require varnish over top. Fortunately for me, just before I started stripping about 36 layers of varnish off my door, it delaminated! Pella brought me a new unfinished slab (under warranty) and I'm using Sikkens to stain it. I've been told the varnish is the trouble. It's like putting a sheet of glass against the door, trapping the heat. Plus it isn't flexible enough to expand and contract. If I put up a storm door to protect it, the problem would've been worse due to trapped heat. Sikkens is specifically made for fiberglass doors. I don't have any vested interests in the company but thought I'd try to help the next guy... Here is a link that might be useful: Sikkens Door and Window stain

I did my ThermaTru door with Zar gel stain and Sikkens D&W in Sept 2009 (thanks to Faron for recommending it). Should have recoated last Sept but didn't - I'll do it this spring once it warms up. The bottom of the door is a bit faded - hope I don't have to strip, it's not peeling. Top is shaded by porch so the bottom is the only part that gets direct late-afternoon (west) sun. Does D&W expire? I haven't checked the can. Sikkens changed their website, don't see that Cetol 23+ or D&W have been discontinued. You can search for a dealer in your area. I didn't find the paint store where I thought I bought it (Ben Moore) but looks like Home Depot is carrying the line - maybe they can special-order for you? Here is a link that might be useful: New Sikkens website

I suggest no shutters. Most of the windows could not carry properly sized ones.

Hi, We have 10 fiberglass doors with fir grain in our home. Our painter indicated that he always uses Zar stain and poly on them. This is Zar Early American stain. I tested tons of stain colors and am quite happy with this one. The doors were just stained last week. The Zar stain was hard to find. Masonite used to make a door staining kit as well but they discontinued it. The before and after on the doors