Exterior door paint

Leann Stuart
by Leann Stuart
I want to paint my front door and have some leftover paint that I'm thinking of using and am wondering if interior paint will work on an exterior door. The paint is Sherwin Williams interior Emerald paint in satin. Anyone ever use interior paint on an exterior door? Is it durable? Recommendations....
  7 answers
  • Shari Shari on Jul 02, 2015
    Exterior paint is formulated to hold up to the elements ( wind, rain, sun, snow) better than interior paint. Since your door is protected by the storm door, it will not be subjected to wind, rain and snow. It appears to be set back into an alcove, so direct sun may, or may not, be an issue, depending on which direction the door faces. If it does get direct sun at any part of the day, you may see some fading sooner than you would with exterior paint. If you needed to purchase paint for this door, I would say it is probably better to buy exterior. However, because of the alcove and storm door giving you extra protection, and since you already have the paint, I see no harm in using what you have. If it ends up fading out too quickly, you have invested nothing but the time you spent painting the door and you could purchase just a quart of exterior paint the next time.
  • Debi53 Debi53 on Jul 02, 2015
    It takes so much effort to paint a door. It is not worth the $$savings to use the wrong paint. You will eventually have to spend the money to redo the door anyway and you will have to spend your valuable time & effort. Please do yourself a favor and do it right the first time.
    • B. Enne B. Enne on Jul 02, 2015
      I agree with @Debi53 . Not only will it fade (unless the outer door is UV protected), there will be a heat build up in the summer and with the winter cold, you could have blistering, which is a bigger pain to remove, then buying exterior paint in the 1st place. Some door companies void their warranties when you use a storm door, due to heat build up--it can actually warp the door, so I don't think the interior paint wil hold up at all.
  • The Redesign Habit The Redesign Habit on Jul 02, 2015
    Your biggest problem with painting your front door with interior paint will be fading. Interior paint doesn't seem to hold it's color as well in lots of sun. I also tried the same thing and had to repaint the door fairly quickly due to fading. The door won't take much paint so I would spend the little money it will cost and use the correct paint to avoid the faster fading.
  • Ricardo Martinez Ramos Ricardo Martinez Ramos on Jul 04, 2015
    I wouldn't risk it. other commentators up here are correct. paints designed for interior use don't have the same formulation as outdoor paints hence they are not suitable for the job. most likely interior paint won't have any UV filters which will quickly affect interior paint used outside, not to mention the effect of other climatic elements and even wear and tear of people and pets passing it through on a daily basis, i'm thinking of scuffs and marks that would be very difficult to remove without scratching the paint.
  • Ginger the farm gal Ginger the farm gal on Jul 04, 2015
    Tried it...down to the primer now and that was before I broke the glass door with the weedeater...invest in the proper paint.
  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Jan 27, 2023

    Unless it is Gloss paint then it won't stand up to the weather.