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DGDevin

wrote:

The stain isn't gray - the wood is oxidized. The difference between
stain and varnish - stain is color only, varnish is a clear coating
that protects the wood. For wood doors with that sort of sun
exposure, paint is a lot better - varnish has a sort of a
"greenhouse" effect on wood - paint will keep sun off wood (in the
shade, so to speak). If the cracks are all the way through the wood,
you need to apply a flexible caulk or filler before finishing. Sand
off the gray stuff.

And be careful what kind of varnish or clear top coat you put over what kind
of stain. I recently managed to put my foot in the paint can (so to speak)
putting clear polyurethane over oil-based stain--oops. Paint sounds like a
better idea unless for some reason you want some grain showing through.