We provide a proof of global existence of solutions to quasilinear wave equations satisfying the null condition in certain exterior domains. In particular, our proof does not require estimation of the fundamental solution for the free wave equation. We instead rely upon a class of Keel–Smith–Sogge estimates for the perturbed wave equation. Using this, a notable simplification is made as compared to previous works concerning wave equations in exterior domains: one no longer needs to distinguish the scaling vector field from the other admissible vector fields.