Painting A Door – Four Ways To Make Your Doors Sparkle Like Fine Jewels

Painting a door takes a lot longer and a bit more effort than people think. You don’t just walk up to a door and paint it. There is prep work as well as technique involved in doing it right.

4 Ways To Make Your Doors Look Like Fine Jewels:

1. Use top quality primers and enamel paints.
2. Use speed rollers that are shed-resistant and made for enamels.
3. Spray paint the doors if you have a small shop and a lot of doors to paint.
4. Do the necessary prep work first before painting.

Whether painting a exterior door or if you are going to paint interior doors they need the hardware removed first (doorknob, locks, kick plates, etc.).

Basic Steps For Painting A Door:

1. The doors need to be lightly sanded to remove dust.
2. They need to be primed first (use an enamel under coater primer – tint to finish color).
3. They need to be lightly sanded again to smooth out the primer and then lightly dusted afterwards before applying the finish coat.
4. They need a top or finish coat of enamel paint.

Most enamels are latex now days. Some are oil base. Because of “tack up” you have to paint the door in steps. Using a speed roller (mini or hotdog roller) helps to keep a wet edge and also makes the finish look nice.

Using a speed roller made for enamels make the flat surfaces look good. Use them for the primer coat as well as for the enamel finish coat.

For recessed doors I use a 2-inch sash brush to cut in the areas the speed roller cannot get. I brush and roll as I go along. Always brush and roll with the grain. Work in sections as the door was put together.

Painting a metal door is easier. You just do the steps above and cut in anything you cannot roll. Block the bottom of your door so that it won’t move while painting it. For painting a steel door do the same steps as above. Put all your hardware back at the end of the day.