Great Tips for Painting Doors

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Great Tips for Painting wooden Doors
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Painting doors? Proper preparation, the right
tools and materials and good technique result in
a silky-smooth, long-lasting finish. Use these
pro tips to make an old door look new again..
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Lay the door flat to avoid drips and runs For
convenience, its tempting to leave a door
hanging on its hinges when you paint. But for a
smooth finish, you have to lay it flat and remove
the hinges, knobs and other hardware. With the
door laid flat on sawhorses, you can spread paint
more quickly and not worry about drips and paint
sags. And you can still paint both sides in a day
if you rest the door on lag screws. Drill one
3/16-in. hole in the bottom of the door and two
at the top, then turn 4-in. by 1/4-in. lag screws
1-1/2 in. into the door. Spread the sawhorses
apart just enough so that the door doesnt touch
either side but rests entirely on the bolts.
Paint the first side, then just rotate the door
on the single bolt at the bottom of the door
while holding the other two bolts.
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Clean Off Grime Before You Prime Washing your old
finish is probably the most important step you
can take to ensure good paint adhesion. Even the
best paint wont stick well to oil and dirt, and
theres lots of both on doors, especially near
the knob, where dirty hands have pushed and
pulled for years. Before filling holes or
priming, scrub the entire door with heavy-duty
household cleaner. Let the door dry completely,
then fill any holes.
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Beware of paint buildup Decades of paint buildup
can make a door rub against the jamb or door stop
molding. The fastest way to remove paint buildup
is with a sharp stainless steel or carbide
scraper. After scraping, sand the door to smooth
the scraped edges. Use power sanders
sparinglyhigh-speed sanding can melt paint,
making it even more difficult to smooth out. Use
sandpaper rather than a scraper on metal doors.
Chemically strip fiberglass doors if they have
flaking paintyoull quickly ruin a fiberglass
door (smooth or wood grain) if you scrape or sand
it.
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Fill all holes, even small ones You might assume
that new paint will hide tiny dents and
scratches, but it wont. In fact, the new coat of
paint highlights minor flaws. Fill dents less
than 1/8 in. deep with spackling compound. For
deeper holes, use a two-part filler or an epoxy
wood filler. Its more of a hassle to use and you
usually end up throwing away a lot of partially
hardened filler (mix small batches), but the
patch will be hard enough to take a lot of abuse
without falling out.
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Prime the entire door before painting Unless the
old paint is in perfect condition, you should
prime before painting. Primer blocks stains,
mutes dark colors and helps new paint stick
better. It also seals porous fillers so the
topcoat looks smooth and even. Avoid spot
primingit will make the topcoat of paint look
blotchy. If youre covering a color or painting
on a new color (anything other than white), use a
gray-tinted primer instead of a white primer.
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Search for flaws after priming Minor flaws in
your patching job are hard to see on an old
painted surface, but theyll show up much better
after a fresh coat of primer. After the primer
dries, check the door again with a strong light.
Cover any flaws with more spackling compound,
then sand and reprime these areas with the same
roller or brush, feathering the edges so the
additional primer blends in
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Sand between coats No matter how careful you are,
you can usually find ridges or bubbles or a few
bits of dust and lint in a fresh coat of paint or
primer. For the smoothest possible topcoat,
hand-sand the entire door after the primer and
between coats of paint. It may seem like a lot of
work, but it shouldnt take more than five
minutes when the door is flat on the sawhorses.
Sand with non-clogging 180- or 220-grit sandpaper
or sanding sponges (look for non-clogging or
stearated on the label). Sand just enough to
make the surface feel smooth. After sanding,
vacuum and wipe down the door with a damp cloth
to remove all the dust.
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Concern about Security.
Purchase a high security front door from a trust
worthy Manufacturer.
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Get a smoother finish with a special mini
roller The best way to avoid brush marks is to
avoid using brushes. High-density foam mini
rollers spread paint smoothly and evenly, without
brush marks and without the bumpy surface that
standard-nap rollers leave. They also have
rounded ends that almost eliminate lap marks and
let you paint into corners without leaving
scrapes or ridges. Edge in around windows and
panels with a brush first, then coat the rest of
the door with the foam roller. Use the rollers
for both primer and paint. They spread a thinner
coat of paint than brushes or conventional
rollers do, so youll need at least two coats.
Foam rollers are available at paint stores and
home centers.
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Protect freshly painted doors from sticking Its
difficult to know how soon to put a door back up
again after painting. And for home security,
youll want to get exterior doors back up as soon
as possible. But even when latex paint is dry to
the touch, it can still stick to the doorstop
or weather stripping and then peel off when you
open the door. To be safe, wait at least two days
before closing an interior door. This is
especially true during humid conditions, when it
takes longer for paint to cure properly. With an
exterior door, either remove the weather
stripping or cover it with painters tape so the
paint wont stick. After youre done with that,
check out the video below to see how to trim a
door.
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