DIY: Painting a Paneled Front Door

 

Of course the ideal way to paint the exterior of your front door is to take it off its hinges and lay it in a dust free garage/workshop on a pair of saw horses and meticulously and painstakingly paint it layer by layer. But this is not necessary. Let’s be real, I have two teenage boys and one preteen boy, I need all the time I can get to try to keep up with their demand for food, not to mention their homework and extracurricular activities. Also, when you paint the exterior of your front door in the south during the warm months…so, like, nine months out of the year…you want to avoid running up your AC bill or providing an invitation to probably a thousand bugs the size of my dog by leaving the door open for extended periods of time. I won’t even go into the possibility of snakes that I know lurk in scaly anticipation of a reptilian revolution to reclaim the land that we built our house on.  With worries like these, I clearly am not a native to Texas.

Squirrel! Sorry about that. I lost focus for a moment.

So, I left my front door on its hinges and I am lucky enough that the stain was just fading and dulling but there was no sign of chipped or flaking paint, or varnish, anywhere. If your door is also free of chipping or flaking paint, here is a successful and easy tutorial to paint your exterior front door DIY that you can follow. After all, a nice fresh coat of paint on the front door can really set the tone for visitors entering your home. Or at least give the illusion that you’ve got it together beyond that threshold. Haha, that’s a good joke I like to play on my neighbors.

I broke it up into a two-day process, one day to clean the door and prepare to paint, and the second day to paint. My front door faces the west so I wanted to paint first thing in the morning when there was no direct sun on the door. I didn’t want the paint to dry too fast. (Especially since I was testing out a new brand of paint.) Turns out that I loved the product and it was super easy to use. I purchased the Deco Art Curb Appeal paint from Hobby Lobby (with my 40% off coupon) so it was a great deal. They also sell it at Home Depot and Michael’s; each store carries a different assortment of colors but I wanted this particular shade of blue. Also good to know, one bottle of this paint covered two coats on the entire front door! That’s the interior, exterior,and sides. You can’t see it, but I’m doing a victory dance right now… probably for the best that you can’t see that.

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Check out the recipe link for Balsamic Pot Roast for an easy slow cooker dinner. Plan your shopping accordingly!

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Surface Preparation

Step 1:

Add about ½ cup of vinegar to the warm water in your standard bucket. No need to measure this out.

Step 2:

Use your dampened rag to wipe down the entire front door, making sure to repeatedly rinse out your rag as you do so. Get into all the grooves of the paneling. Don’t be afraid to give it a good scrubbing, but not so hard that you are working up a sweat. You are simply removing any dust and debris from the exterior of the door. If you have chipped or loose finish, my condolences. You will need to scrape off the loose bits and then sand it down so there are no bumpy parts in the final product.

Step 3:

Let the door dry completely. I wiped mine down the evening before I painted so there would not be any rushing to beat the sun on the day of painting.

Step 4:

This is the time to test your existing finish to determine if it is oil base. To test the finish. Apply rubbing alcohol to a cotton ball, cotton swab, or the corner of a rag and rub it on the clean and dry door. If the color rubs off onto the cotton ball, you have latex paint and can apply latex (acrylic) to the door. If nothing rubs off, it is painted with an oil based paint and you will have to use a bonding primer like Kilz Adhesion Primer. It’s water based but specifically formulated for these situations. Read the directions on the primer can for best results. Follow the Painting Steps to apply primer.

Boom! Prep work is done and in probably less than 15 minutes. Unless you had oil based paint, then it will take longer. But you can still do it!

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DIY Painting the Front Door

(It takes me an hour to an hour and a half for the first coat and then about a half hour for the second coat, with one to two hours of drying in between coats.)

Step 1:

Remove the door knob and lock. Just unscrew the screws from the inside of the door and pull the two sides of the lock apart. I left the face plate on the door so it wouldn’t close all the way when it was drying. I “shut” the door to keep bugs out and AC in, but the deadbolt was out and prevented the door from shutting completely and ruining the painted surface.

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Step 2:

Wipe down door with tack cloth. Tack cloth is basically cheese cloth with a coating of beeswax on it to pick up any lint, hairs, or bugs that could get permanently embedded in your paint job.

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Step 3:

Tape off the sweep at the base of your door with the painter’s tape. The sweep is usually a rubbery or metal strip along the bottom edge of your door. Tape off the hinges and the base plate by the lock.

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Step 4:

Get your clean up cloth damp with water so it is ready to go, just in case. If you don’t do this, you will for sure need a clean up cloth and there won’t be one around. Also put down your old towel or tarp to prevent any drips on your flooring! I especially needed some clean up because my pooch was so helpful while I painted. Ha ha!

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Step 5:

Stir or mix your paint. The directions are on the can of paint, so it’s pretty difficult to screw this up!

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Step 6:

Commence with painting! I begin from the top so if there are any drips they are easy to spot and fix by either wiping them up, or brushing them out in the direction of the grain of the wood.

Pour some of the paint into your disposable bowl, or pail. Start at the top groove of the panel and brush back and forth until there is full coverage. To load your paint brush: dip it no more than ⅓ of the way into the paint and lightly drag each side against the lip or edge of the container holding the paint. This removes any excess paint that could cause drips or sags. If you do drip or sag the paint, brush it out. No biggie, even if it’s on a part of the door you weren’t trying to paint just yet. Just be sure to brush in the direction of the grain. Keeping your paintbrush from being saturated or dipped too far into the paint will prevent the paint from dripping down your hand/arm.

 

Next, do each side groove of the panel in the same even, long strokes. If it smooshes out onto the panel, no worries, just smooth it out following the pattern of the grain. Finish with the bottom groove of panel #1. Then proceed to the raised panel section to that the rectangle of that panel is fully covered. Watch for drips in the corners! I do each panel; painting the frame and then the center so that I can work with the paint before it sets. I feel you get the best blending this way.

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Step 7:

Continue this process with each panel. I had 6 panels on my door. (Some of the following photos I borrowed from my other tutorial so they are of the interior of the front door. After painting my front door exterior, I realized that people would probably like to see each step.)

 

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Step 8:

Go back to the top of your door and paint that top horizontal portion called the top rail. Then work your way down from top to bottom painting the rails and the stiles (vertical sections), starting with the center, or mullion, sections.

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Step 9:

Now paint the vertical portions, or the longer stile sections on the sides. Remember to do long even strokes and to watch for drips.

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Step 10:

Once that is completed, carefully paint along the sides of the door (both where there are hinges and where the lock sticks out). I couldn’t find a fancy name for these parts.

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Step 11:

Let the paint dry for 1-2 hours. I wash out my brush because I am a little crazy about clean brushes and I also don’t want any congealed paint to booger up on my brush and get in the fresh paint once I start again. I use a wire brush to get out all the paint from my brush bristles.

I pushed the door gently closed, with the deadbolt sticking out to prevent it from closing completely. This made me feel better about keeping bugs out and keeping the AC in. Also cover your bowl of paint with cling wrap to keep it from forming a film on the top of the paint.

You now have about an hour and a half. So here is a crock pot recipe to get started so you have no guilt about dinner. Slow Cooker Balsamic Pot Roast

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Step 12:

Repeat the same painting process as before to do the second coat. There are some who want to only do one coat, don’t be fooled. Two coats are always better! You know how when you paint your fingernails one coat is semi passable, but two coats gives you way better color quality, durability, and the finish look is spot on? Yeah, make painting your front door DIY look like a professional did it.

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Step 13:

Once the second coat is dry, remove the painter’s tape and attach the door knob.

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Now stand back and admire your work. Fair warning: Once you paint your door, you are going to want a cute wreath to set it off, or perhaps spruce up the front porch chairs…just sayin’ that making a house a home is addicting. Don’t you just love it? 💙

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Painting Tips and Tricks:

Testing if Paint is Oil Based

Tips For Stenciling

Types of Paint

Six Paint Finishes and When to Use Them

Spray Painted Rattan Chairs

How To Clean Paint Brushes

Everything You Need to Paint a Room

Painting a Straight Edge