Asked on Jan 19, 2015

Paint coming off door

Nancy B
by Nancy B
I painted a stained door going through all the necessary steps: cleaning, sanding, waning again, priming the painting. What went wrong?
Here is the door going into the kitchen. It gets the most use. Now it is starting on other doors as well. Yikes!
  11 answers
  • Shari Shari on Jan 19, 2015
    What went wrong? Probably nothing. Looks like normal wear and tear to me since the paint on the other parts of the door appear okay. Painted surfaces that see a lot of "traffic"--excessive touching, like around the door knob, often need occasional touch ups, especially if you have kids. It happens at my house too and there isn't even any kids living here anymore. I just keep a can of touch up paint handy for quick refreshes.
  • Kari Peterson Kari Peterson on Jan 19, 2015
    That's the finger/hand area that's touched all the time. Probably a lot of built up oils that weren't cleaned right.
  • Carole Carole on Jan 19, 2015
    What did you use to clean the woodwork prior to priming it? Did you clean again after sanding. Sorry your post has a few typo's in it and hard to get the gist of what you did. You need a degreasing agent on wood prior to painting. You also need to ensure to leave sufficient time before priming to allow the woodwork to be completely dry, ensure that you clean after sanding to make sure there is no dust on the surface and ensure the primer has dried and cured properly prior to applying the topcoat. I would have used an enamel type paint to paint doors. Not sure what paint you used here. All of these factors may affect the staying power of the topcoat. Two coats of primer and two of topcoat is a good idea on heavy traffic areas. Remember when painting that touch dry does not mean the paint has cured (dried to it's hardest finish which can take a few days depending on the brand of paint used).
  • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Jan 19, 2015
    Carole has good advice. If this is wear and tear, then next time, I would add a coat or two of clear acrylic poly to protect your top coat.
  • Its not uncommon for this to occur. Kari is partly correct about skin oils that perhaps were not completely removed when the door was painted. Also some stains and sealers are resistant to adhesion of paints. Sand the area well, clean well then refinish again.
  • Lisa L Lisa L on Jan 20, 2015
    Stick with a semi gloss oil-based paint for doors and cabinets in high-traffic areas. It is more tedious to work with, but gives a much harder finish and is way more durable. I learned the hard way that it is well worth the extra effort if you don't want to be revisiting it for touch-ups every few months. :-)
  • Deanna Deanna on Jan 20, 2015
    What kind of primer did you use? This finish is failing between the door and primer. So there is either a contaminant in the door making the primer not adhere or the wrong type of primer was used. A super adherence primer, 100% acrylic is required. Make sure you didn't use a drywall primer.
  • Stacy | BlakeHillHouse Stacy | BlakeHillHouse on Jan 20, 2015
    It is also possible that you covered oil-based paint with latex paint without the proper primer. It happens! :) Oil to latex requires an oil-based primer.
  • Nancy B Nancy B on Jan 24, 2015
    Thank all of you for the suggestions. Here is another question: do I have to strip the entire door or can I do just that area? I guess I can just try that area first and see how it looks.
    • @Nancy B You can surely try to sand and refinish that area alone, however not knowing why the finish failed it may be prudent to sand the entire door down and get an even coat on it. Also, unless the finish is really fresh on the rest of the door, the patched area most likely will stick out.
  • Shari Shari on Jan 24, 2015
    For heaven's sake, as long as the rest of your door is in good shape, don't make more work for yourself (by stripping or painting the whole thing). When I retouch my doors or any trimwork, I do exactly that...just retouch the area. I lightly sand the affected area, wipe it clean of sanding dust and then repaint just the part that needs it. I've never had any problem getting the new paint to blend with the old.
  • Deb K Deb K on Dec 14, 2022

    Hi Nancy, hope this helps you out. The picture looks like normal wear from usage.

    Old wooden doors generally need sanding and priming. To get a smooth working surface, scrape off any peeling pieces and sand down the old paint until the surface of the door feels even all over. Start with a medium 120-grit piece of sandpaper and then work your way up to 220-grit paper.

    http://www.simplifydiy.com/painting-and-decorating/doors/repainting-wood