The Secrets To Painting A Metal Door
Sam Lutz • September 1, 2015
The trouble with painting a front door, a steel front door in particular, is that the constant exposure to sun can actually bake the paint off of the metal surface. Metal is already a tough material to paint because standard paint doesn’t grip it well. Add the harsh conditions that many front doors face, and your front door could look terrible in a matter of only months.
This step-by-step tutorial will take you through the process of preparing and painting the door using the right materials so that the paint can truly adhere to the steel.
Process
- Remove the door from its hinges and remove the hardware from the door. Note: you can try to paint the door on its hinges, if you prefer. If you take the door off its hinges, you’ll need a flat surface where you can paint the door (like a couple sawhorses or a work bench). If you decide to leave the door on its hinges, you’ll need to be extra careful not to make a mess with the paint.
- Strip the old paint from the door. The easiest way to do this is to use a chemical stripper. Follow the instructions on the can.
- Sand off the remaining paint from the door until it’s basically been reduced to bare metal.
- Clean the door with TSP and dry it with a rag.
- Tape any areas of the door you don’t wish to paint.
- Fill in any cracks, dents or holes in the door using autobody filler. Autobody filler usually takes the form of an epoxy. Follow all manufacturer’s instructions for application and then sand the filler before moving on to the next step.
- Paint the door with a metal primer. Use an angled paint brush to fill all the little cracks, crevices and angles in the door, and use a roller to paint the flat spaces. Use white primer for doors that will be painted with light colored paint, and tinted primer for doors that will be painted with a dark colored paint. The tint of the primer will vary depending on the color you plan to paint the door. Gray works well for doors painted black or with a dark cool color. Light brown primer works well for brown doors or warm colors. Have the paint shop tint the primer if you can’t buy primer that’s pre-tinted. Give the primer adequate time to dry before painting the door.
- Paint the door with a thin coat of the exterior grade acrylic paint of your choice. As with the primer, use an angled brush to fill in the cracks and angled areas, and use a flat roller to paint the flat surfaces of the door.
- Wait for the paint to dry, then paint a second thin coat on the door. Once this coat has been applied, you can either stop painting (if the door looks adequately covered), or you can paint a third coat (if the paint looks uneven).
- Re-install the front door, if you took it down in step 1.
Resources
To learn more, check out this step-by-step tutorial with pictures, or this very thorough how-to. We also recommend watching this video on YouTube:
Finally, come by Ace Paint and Unfinished Furniture! We can help you buy the materials you need and get you started on your project.
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