So you want to paint like a pro? Well, sit back and let me give you some tips and a tutorial for painting a door for starters. Then we’ll work our way around the room.
Our doors are all the six panel type. If you have flat (non-panel) versions, you can skip this post and come back later. For the rest of us, get out your paper and pencils and take some notes (does anyone do this anymore?)
First gather these materials:
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optional: Painting Pyraminds.
Instructions:
Step 1: The easiest way to paint a door is to start by removing it, then removing all the hardware and lay it horizontally on saw horses. This will eliminate potential drips. But, I’ve painted plenty of doors without removing them. So, it’s your choice.
Step 2: Lightly sand the entire door. No need to bust out the power sander, you can use a sanding block or sheet of sand paper. Be sure to sand down any bumps or blemishes. The main goal is to give your door a little “tooth” for the new paint or primer to adhere to.
Step 3: Time to decide if you need to use primer. Here are reasons you would need to use it:
- If the door is bare wood or stained wood.
- If the door is a dark color and you want to paint it much lighter.
- If the door was painted with oil and you want to use latex paint (how to tell? Rub a small spot with ammonia and if the paint comes off it is latex.)
If you are painting over latex with latex (or oil over oil) and the previous paint job is in good shape you can skip the primer. (This was the case with my door, so I didn’t prime it.)
Step 4: Paint the panels first.
Using a small roller to paint doors can greatly speed the process. Begin by rolling paint on the panels.
Work quickly by rolling on the paint, then use a brush to smooth out the paint and fill in any spots missed by the roller. Follow the arrow directions above when brushing on the paint.
Drag your brush in the same direction as the woodgrain on your door. This will highlight the grain and keep your door looking neat and clean. NEVER run your brush strokes perpendicular to the wood grain. This does NOT look professional.
Step 5: Next roll the inside cross pieces. Start by rolling and painting the center vertical piece.
Again, drag your brush up and down vertically with the wood grain (see arrows in the above diagram.)
Then paint the horizontally pieces in the middle of the door.
Keep your brush strokes horizontal as you cross over the tall vertical center.
Step 6: Paint the border. Pay attention to the direction of the woodgrain for this last step. The grain on the two sides should flow vertically from top to bottom.
There are header and footer panels sandwiched between the left and right sides. These “sandwiched” pieces should be painted by dragging your brush horizontally (see diagram above.)
Step 7: The last step is to paint the edges of the door. (Avoid painting the hinges…that’s not very professional either!)
Roll paint onto the edges then smooth them with the paintbrush. Be on the lookout for drips or puddles of paint.Go back and check the face of your door for drips as well.
Let your door dry (30 minutes – 1 hour), then follow up with a second coat of paint. When you are done let the doors dry for 2+ hours before flipping them to paint the other side. I have found that it helps to put a pieces of cardboard or scrap bare wood under the door so the paint doesn’t stick to the saw horses. But you can also buy Painting Pyraminds.
Ready to perfect more of your painting skills? Check out the Paint Week series with 5 Lessons to Perfect Your Painting Skills:
If you liked this post, you’ll love more of my painting tutorials!
This how to was perfect. I completed my two door entrance to the laundry room today and kept my laptop open following step by step. Thank you so much! Lindy
No professional paints doors with a brush or roller; it’s all done using a paint sprayer. My parents painted all of the doors in our house with a sprayer they bought at the home depot. It’s super easy to use and affordable, and because the sprayer uses 1/2 paint 1/2 water- one gallon of paint goes a long way.
How do you paint the inexpensive doors that they place in houses today. Does primer help the paint stick ?
Carrie, yes, you will need to use primer. Especially if the door is pre-painted in an oil finish.
How do you tell it has been painted with an oil finish?
Carrie, dip a q-tip in rubbing alcohol. Rub it onto the door. If the paint rubs off it is latex. If not, it is probably oil.
I was thinking step 4 should be step 3, with my doors anyways as the wood grain is horizontal all across the bottom and top of the door.
Is that right?
I have 3 doors to paint and Ill follow this technique.
Thank you.
You can swap those two, but I learned to paint all the insides first. Also, if there are any drips from Steps 1 & 2, you’ll catch them sooner before moving to the exterior frame last. Make sense?
Thank you. Yes, I understand that.
How long should I wait between steps? For example, after I paint step 1, and step 2- how long after should I paint step 3?
Thank you.
Don’t wait. Just keep painting around so you can hopefully overlap into wet strokes. If the paint starts to dry you’ll get drag marks.
This is a great read! I appreciate the tips. The only question I have is this: the previous owners painted the wooden doors white, and the paint is chipping/peeling off because they didn’t sand down the original polyurethane/varnish before-hand. Am I going to have to scrape off this paint, then sand or just start sanding? Thanks in advance for your time!
The BEST way to get ALL your doors done at one time… take all the doors off and remove all harware. Set up two long wood stips on the floor in your garage – use 2×2 or long scrap strips of 3/4″ plywood work great and I keep them specifically for painting doors. Next get scraps of wood about 6-8 inches long – anything from a 1×2 to a 2×4 – you’ll need a number of them equal to the total number of doors you have minus ONE. Next, accordian the doors across your two wood strips on the floor and nail a scrap of wood into the top edges of the doors where they meet. nail the nail in half way so you can easily pull it out with a claw hammer when you are done. You never see the top or bottom of the doors and you can write the location of the door in your house on either end and paint all surfaces of the door in one painting session. Works GREAT for anything more than 2 doors (3+). I’ve painted 5 doors, 2 coats all after work one day – just before dinner, 4 hrs later around 10 oclock – dry the next morning.
Scott,
I am a visual person – and having a hard time following your instructions in my head. Do you have any pictures of how to “accordian” the doors?
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this post. Good work! Thanks for post.
Hey Ladies, do any of you who have painted your doors, have a paint color that you are in love with? I’d LOVE black (mine is currently burgandy from the builder), but I don’t want a super dark black. I was hoping those of you who have done this would have a recommendation? Also, would you use a satin or ? Thanks a million in advance for any suggestions!!!
Michelle, what about a deep charcoal color. And I prefer satin so it doesn’t highlight the imperfections as much.
I have solid core flat bedroom doors to paint. They were primed when we bought them, 3 yrs ago. They never got painted and are dirty. what should I wash doors with? Should I prim them, or is original priming enough? Thanks for the info on this site and I feel comments on this site saved me from removing three heavy doors to paint. I will leave them hanging.
If you think they are really dirty and more than just dust, I’d clean them with TSP. But, if it’s just dust you should be able to clean them off with a wet rag. You can always give them a super light sanding too. The original priming should be sufficient as long as you don’t see the original wood showing though.
Is it different if painting a steel door? I have new doors and I believe they have primer on them and I want to paint them white.
Launa,
No, not much different, but you do need to determine for certain if it is pre-primed. Besides contacting the seller or manufacturer, I’m not sure how you could tell. Adding one coat of primer to the door isn’t a big deal. You don’t have to go for full coverage, just make sure you don’t have any drips.
Hi, I’m a professional painter & decorator and I do it a little differently to you. Taking a door off its hinges to paint might make sense if you are just painting one side of the door and you have a lot of time on your hands!
If you are painting both sides or more than one door it could be a serious hassle. Plus when the door is laying flat and dust in the air will settle on the wet paint. Unless you have the door in a clean room.
This is how I do it http://oisinbutler.ie/how-to-paint-a-panel-door-and-frame/
Oisin
Thanks Oisin! That definitely seems easier than taking the door off the hinges.