Hi,
Excellent advice already given.
It being a front door the showpiece of a home; stain and varnish are OK when first applied but usually deteriorate as this has over the years. My choice would be top quality paint such as Benjamin Moore;
https://benjaminmoorepaint.co.uk/products/aura-exterior/
I used Aura Exterior Satin but gloss is available. Definitely not cheap but cheapest long term and after putting in lots of preperation work I wanted a finish that would last for years.
Over the last 44 years I've tried lots of finishes including stains and varnish but our extremes of weather have always quickly destroyed them even oil based gloss paint. I always wondered what paint was used in America on their clapboard houses which seemed to last a very long time after all given the size of their houses they wouldn't be happy to be repainting every couple of years.
In 2016 I decided to give our bungalow exterior a full and comprehensive makeover and to my delight I found a company called Shaw's had just started selling Benjamin Moore paint. My wife and I sat at the computer browsing hundreds of American houses for colour inspiration and many had the colours we chose; we selected a house and I copied and pasted it to an email I then sent to Shaw's requesting help in identifying the colours; Shaw's were brilliant and we ended up buying over 5 gallons of Aura satin.
This paint has suffered extremes of weather here on the very exposed valley side now for five years and it still looks new due to it's colour lock technology. This paint has worked out the cheapest long term but has saved me no end of work and repainting.
The new entrance shown is now only two years old made and installed by me but the cladding to it's right is 18mm WBP ply and at 5 years old still looks new. Just above the cladding can be seen the wooden window cill; this cill used to drive me mad because I tried so many paints and finishes on it and whatever I applied never lasted a full year including trying car engine manifold extreme heat proof paint; this cill is the most exposed of all the woodwork but I've not touched it since 2016 with it's BM paint on it.
I've only just replaced both these double glazing units these at 57 years old with original softwood frames the frames as seen are still like brand new because I look after them. I've just returned from the stores and passing a bungalow noticed UPVC window frames and doors in a skip outside; the bungalow is about 15 years old?
Here's our rear door which I made 34 years ago when we moved in still looking brand new; this is more sheltered and has been repainted a number of times over the years with oil based gloss but as I say in 2016 I repainted the whole exterior woodwork and it's still looking freshly painted.
Obviously Stuartie-B the choice is entirely yours but I'm just adding this for a bit of information it being a DIY forum where others also want to have a posh front door.
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=front+door+paintwork&iax=images&ia=images
I see you're in the UK so you'll be very aware of our climate and you'll be keen to get your door sorted because winter will soon be here again; it's dark and raining as I type which is normal for Yorkshire.
Good luck and please post your work in progress.
Kind regards, Colin.
