Paint a metal door metal doors offer great benefits in security and weather resistance but to keep their surfaces welcoming and rust free you have to keep up with the painting.
Painting a steel door with latex paint.
A heavy coat of paint covers better and sometimes levels out better but runs are more likely and brush marks are deeper.
Applying the paint is the most satisfying part of painting a steel door plan on a minimum of one coat of primer and two coats of finish.
Then apply 2 coats of the primer letting it dry after each coat.
If painting your door with oil based paint doesn t sound appealing to you you can use an exterior latex based paint.
I have found that applying blue painters tape onto the weatherstrip and leave it on a few weeks avoids that.
Paints that are made for galvanized surfaces will require less prep work and will adhere better than other kinds of paint.
The most commonly used and available type of paint for metal doors is latex.
Brush on a light coat.
5 painting a steel door and side lights.
Also latex enamel doesn t truly cure for a week or more and when door is closed it may stick to the weather stripping around the door frame and pull the paint off around the door edges.
Painting metal doors with latex.
However you will have to use an oil based exterior primer before you paint.
Paint all four edges of the door first.
Before you apply the primer and paint lightly sand the door with 400 grit sandpaper so the primer and paint will stick to it better.
When painting edges some paint inevitably slops onto the faces of the door.
Brushing steel doors probably the.
Subscribe to this old house.
Since you mentioned that you are in direct sun most of the day i would highly recommend using a paint that is fade resistant.
You have three methods of application to choose from brushing rolling or spraying.
To paint a steel door you ll need exterior paint and an oil based primer designed specifically for metal.
Do not use alkyd based paints or oil based primer.
A steel door needs extra special care when it s painted because the wet paint can easily be manipulated by the tool that s applying it.
Some people use acrylic latex paint which is not designed specifically for galvanized metal so you will want to prime the surface before painting.
It s better to have that happen before the faces are painted.