Important Information about “Care and Maintenance” for Cedar garage doors

I acknowledge that I have been advised by Dominator Garage Doors, that the sealing, treatment or coating of any cedar doorssupplied by “Dominator garage Doors” to me in an unsealed conditionat my request, is done so at my own risk, and the responsibility of coating the door in a suitable protective finish,in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations is my responsibility. By selecting a product other than Dryden’s wood oil or other “migrating oil” products, I acknowledge that I have accepted full responsibility for the treatment system used.

In cases where the door is supplied coated with Drydens Wood Oil in the factory the customer accepts that they are responsible for all recoating and maintenance once the door has been installed.

Please read on to learn more about protecting your investment.

Dominator Garage Doors uses and recommends “Drydens Wood Oil” for protecting and maintaining the natural characteristics of the cedar used on all there cedar doors. It is important to note the basic differences between the various types of protective coating systems on the market and how they claim to do their job.

Most timber stains are either oil or water based. These products penetrate just below the surface of the timber and dry. They usually have a strong colour pigment in order to block out or attempt to block out harmful UV rays from the sun. The strong colour pigment means that regardless of the colour of the timber prior to coating, once the required numbers of coats have been applied in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, it will immediately adopt the stain colour. The down side to this is that in some cases the stain also disguises the natural characteristics of the timber and a lot of these products will crack and peel over time.

Another effect of these types of stains is that they tend to dry out the timber because they seal it which doesn’t allow it to naturally absorb and release moisture. This is a basic function of natural timber products and Cedar, although a very stable timber will still expand and contract as the ambient moisture level changes.

It is also important to note that as your garage door goes up and down it flexes and can squeak and creak a lot if it is very dry.

Oil based “varnish” products are in my opinion the least suitable for cedar sectional garage doors as they tend to be the noisiest (they penetrate into the tongues and grooves of the cedar and glue them together restricting the ability of the cedar to expand and contract naturally).

“Drydens Wood Oil” is a “Migrating Oil” not a film-forming sealer,or anoil or water based stain,and will not completely dry. The term “migrating Oil” means exactly that, the oil continues to migrate into the cedar. Woodoil Clear will allow the timber to “silver” and weather naturally but still be water repellent. When you add a colourtone to Woodoil it sacrifices itself rather than the timber silvering. Initially the timber will lose its brightness and the colour will lift, in the summer this could take 6 weeks, in the winter 6 months. When Woodoil needs maintenance it’s because the timber has faded or gone light and enemic.

The colourtone acts like a sunblock, it’s in all stains and polyurethanes, they can’t make a clear because when the timber oxidises it would crack and peel sooner than normally. So this means Woodoil is UV stable in two ways, it won’t crack and peel and with colourtone it will hold a colour.

Woodoil migrates into the timber and leaves the colourtone attached to the surface fibres, is not as dense in its film building and leaves the timber looking more natural with no sheen and more translucency.

Failure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendation in the care and maintenance of cedar doors could void any warranty

For further technical information, data sheets and recommendations please refer to Dryden Distribution Ltd, Free phone: 0800 379 336 or