How to Paint a Front Door: 5 Tips for a Perfect Finish

What’s the saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure? Without good prep work, paint will not adhere to your front door and all the time you spend on the next four tips will be a waste. I started with a new, primed six panel door, which is basically cheating. If you are NOT starting with a brand new door, thoroughly clean your door (a degreaser like TSP works well) and remove any sheen, preferably with sandpaper. Scrape and sand any loose or peeling paint. It isn’t necessary to remove all the old paint, but keep in mind that new paint does not adhere well to shiny, smooth surfaces. A fine to medium grit sandpaper helps roughen up the surface for optimal adhesion. In my experience, primer is not always necessary, but helpful with drastic color changes or damaged doors that need patching or extensive sanding. If you have an unpainted wood door, you’ll need to prime it prior to applying any paint.

Remove the door hardware and tape anything that you do not intend to paint. You can cut corners and tape the hardware rather than remove it, but if you go that path, I recommend using good tape like frog tape to avoid a huge mess and partially painted hinges. A drop cloth or newspaper will save you time and elbow grease.

I recommend painting doors with two different brushes; an angled 1 1/2 inch brush for the detail and edges and a 3 inch, straight brush for the rest. I find that the finish is more consistent if I use a brush for the whole door rather than switch between a brush and roller. If you want a truly joyful painting experience (yes, such things exists), use a high quality brush. After years of crappy brushes, one good brush changed my whole paining outlook.
Resist the temptation to paint strait from the can. It is difficult to properly load the brush without space to remove excess paint. The brush should be saturated but not dripping. Too much paint leads to drips and pooling in the detail.

If the inside and outside of your door are different colors, it’s easy to determine which edge should be painted which color. The hinge edge of the door will face out when it is open and should be painted to match the exterior door color. The knob edge of the door will open in and should be painted to match the inside color of the door.

Paint the edges of the door first to avoid buildup along the corners, which happens a lot with painted doors. To do this, tape the side of the door that will be a different color along the edge. This will prevent the paint for bleeding over onto the wrong side. Paint the edge, then run your finger or a cloth along the face of the door that is not taped and will be painted the same color. This will remove any excess paint that may have wrapped around the edge. You may have some smudging, but that is fine because the door will eventually be painted the same color.

This is the fun part. The image below shows the order that I use to paint a six panel door. You can adjust this for different door configurations. Some painters disagree and switch #2 and #3 so that they can paint straight down the middle of the door, but I prefer this plan because it minimizes crossing brush stokes and the likelihood of painting over semi-dry paint, which is a big no-no for a smooth finish. Paint the same direction, horizontal or vertical, for the entire section. Fight the urge to touch up spots once the paint has started to try. There will be streaks on the first coat, but you will cover them on the second and third coats after allowing for the full drying time between coats.

I use good quality paint in semi-gloss; exterior for the outside and interior for the inside. It needs to be at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside to paint. Follow the wait-time directions on the paint can and do at least two coats. Let the paint dry completely before you reattach the hardware.