Exterior doors can be worn down faster than interior doors mainly because of their long-term exposure to outside elements like weather and humidity. Because of this, your door’s colour can fade out over time, or can even develop scratches or cracks, depending on how it is taken care of over the years. Thus, if your door seems dull to you, or even if you are just feeling a bit creative, then you might want to try repainting your front door so you can bring out its best colour. Here are the steps you should follow as you take on this task.
Choose the right colour
It is important to choose the right colour for your home because not only you would be looking at it, but everybody that passes by your house or visits you as well. Picking the right colour can increase your home’s curb appeal. Do some research on what type of architecture or period your house has. In the UK, the most common period houses are Georgian, Tudor, and Victorian-style houses. Georgian houses feature mostly stained wood colours, Tudor more solid wood colours to match the Medieval Times and Victorian more bright colours that tend to pop.
After you have narrowed down some colours you have in mind, you can test them by taping your swatches to your door. Be sure to check it out during different times of the day to see if it looks right. You can also try opening and closing it to see how it reflects light from different angles.
Prepare your door
Gather all your equipment before doing anything with your door. You will need the basic exterior paint and paintbrush for the painting job, but also consider getting medium-grit sandpaper, painter’s tape, a roller with a tray, a flat-bladed scraper, and some old newspaper to avoid spilling paint all over your area. You can manually strip off by sanding and scraping the old paint off, but you can also purchase a chemical stripper to make the job easier. Always remember to use a mask and gloves when dealing with chemicals. You can sand down some uneven surfaces, just be reminded to only lightly sand along the grain of the wood. When using chemical strippers, be sure to cover all the surfaces including difficult spots, and rest the door before proceeding to paint. Using the painter’s tape, cover parts of the door you would not want to paint on such as glass panels. Put newspapers on floors and surfaces you would not want to spill paint on.
You might also want to check out: Painting a Front Door: Some Useful Tips and Tricks
Paint your door
Finally, we move on to the fun painting part! Before painting, stir your paint first to make sure that the pigments are distributed evenly throughout the whole painting process. Use a roller for most flat surfaces for more efficiency, and use a paintbrush for detailed parts of the door. For panelled doors, it is important to paint in an outwards direction, starting from the panels to the edges.
Apply the paint in thin coats, and apply more coats as needed. Give it time to dry before applying the next coat or moving on to the other side. After giving it the proper time to dry, you can put your door back into place and admire your beautiful front door!
You might also be interested in: Three Basic Ways To Create A Stunning Front Door
Pieter Boyce
Wooden Window and Door Specialist
This article was written on behalf of The Wooden Door Company by Pieter Boyce. Pieter has an intense passion for English Architectural history and has been specialising in the conservation of original wooden windows and doors for decades. His exceptional knowledge of timber windows and doors, both listed or non-listed, is attributed to his hands-on approach to learning all aspects of the complete restoration of original features as well as having personally surveyed thousands of items throughout his long tenure as a head surveyor for one of the largest window and door restoration companies in the UK. He now runs a boutique wooden window and door consultancy and fervently champions the retention of original windows and doors. To learn more of Pieter’s services, visit his website at www.boultonboyce.co.uk.