Paint an Exterior Door - And Make It Look Awesome

$50-100
4 Hours
Easy
Every day I had to walk through our embarrassing exterior door and hang my head in shame. Enough was enough, so being a DIYer I decided to transform it with a new coat of paint. Since I really hate doing a job more than once in a two year period my goal was to properly prep it so the topcoat could not only look awesome but last a LOOOONG time.
Along the way I brainstormed, called the technical service line of Valspar, and discovered several tips that totally made this project more effective. Here's what I learned and wanted to pass along to the Hometalk community:
+Scrape and wire brush chipped and loose paint
+Use a Random Orbital Sander to knockdown uneven old paint
+Check the moisture level of bare wood before priming
+Avoid priming or painting mortises (otherwise your door won't close properly)
+Apply Rain-X to windows so that paint can easily be removed
+Add Floetrol to paint to eliminate brush or roller marks
Needless to say, I'm totally proud of new paint job. A step-by-step guide on how to do this project is over on my blog. Click here for the details, pictures, and a how-to video. If you have any questions along the way I'd be more than happy to lend a hand (digitally of course, I wish I could come to your house in person and help but my wife has me scheduled to do several projects over the next few months-LOL).
http://www.homerepairtutor.com/paint-an-exterior-door
Do you want a great looking exterior door? Me too.
Our old door and jamb were looking sad at best!
Scrape loose paint.
Wire brush after scraping.
Knockdown remaining old paint with a random orbital sander.
Check the moisture level of wood before priming or painting.
Apply Rain-X to windows. This makes paint removal on glass easy.
Prime bare wood even if your paint has primer in it.
Add Floetrol to paint. It eliminates brush and roller marks.
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  • Gena0911 Gena0911 on Dec 28, 2013
    already painted my front door....used primer and then paint but will now have the rainx and floentrol tips for future projects...thanks
  • Linda Linda on Mar 23, 2015
    What about a metal door? About 7 years ago after a remodel the painter painted our French doors and side entrance door. Within months paint started to peel off. I'm guessing he did not prime or use paint for metal. What and how can we remove the paint and what do we use for metal? Also someone painted the frame on the inside of the house on our new window...how do you remove that without ruining the white on the window?
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