Instructions on how to paint garage door please

Savannah02K

I did have someone lined up to do this but he's not turned up and to be honest, I'm so 'workman outed' that I've decided to do it myself. Trouble is, I'm not sure what to do, what tools I need, etc so am hopeful someone here can help.

It's an up and over metal door, panelled, a lot of the white paint is now flaking off so I guess I need to rub/sand it down, prime it and then paint it but .......... what do I use to rub/sand and how do I do that? Is it possible to hire something (small female friendly!) from a hire shop to do that job, and what kind of primer and paint would I need to get?

Any advice much appreciated, I'm pretty good at emulsioning and glossing indoors but have never done any outside painting.

Thanks folks!

AdrianW2

In the absence of anyone more qualified I'll reply. Bear in mind my experience is on agricultural buildings where aesthetics aren't high on the list of priorities.

Clean off the old flaking paint with a wire brush, or if you want to remove a lot of the old paint you can get a wire wheel for a drill but I've found they are excellent tools for removing skin and less effective at removing old paint. Try to avoid going all the way down to the metal. If you're bothered about the finish feather in any ridges in the old paint using something like 120grid abrasive paper. I like to use a sanding block but it isn't necessary.

As for paint, I've just used Hammerite in the past because you can get away with one coat and don't have to prime the patches of bare metal, but some folks don't like the Hammerite finish, so I don't see why you couldn't touch up the bare metal with a metal primer and then do undercoat and exterior gloss. If your garage door is aluminium or somehow you've managed to get down to the intact galvanized steel then you'll probably want a specialist primer anyway.

BTW, Hammerite takes ages to dry and even longer to harden. That thing on the can about touch dry in a few hours is rubbish.

Savannah02K

Have just printed that out, thanks so much for the advice. I thought you had to use a primer as guy up the road who I saw painting his garage had it a grey colour before it became white. Will be a lot easier for me to just use he Hammerite. Now all I need is a dry day ........................... thanks again!

ormus

hammerite make more than the one finish that every one is familiar with.
a great product but expensive in comparison and takes ages to dry & harden.

also consider using spray cans if your brush work is dubious. again can be expensive. you would need about 4 large cans minimum.

BargainGalore

I use normal Wilkos non drip gloss but its an old fashioned garage door. No special brushes but I do scrape away any loose paint and use metal red oxide primer on any bare metal

macman

Savannah02K wrote: »

Have just printed that out, thanks so much for the advice. I thought you had to use a primer as guy up the road who I saw painting his garage had it a grey colour before it became white. Will be a lot easier for me to just use he Hammerite. Now all I need is a dry day ........................... thanks again!

You only need to prime anywhere that is down to bare metal. With Hammerite you don't need to do that. However it would give a better finish to do so as it would even up the base coat before putting on the Hammerite.

payless

hammerite (I used smooth finish) + my bad brush action = awful looking garage door .

imho

payless Thats what i was thinking ,it would look awful.Hammerite would cost a lot of money to use for a garage door.A metal garden gate it would be ok. Rub the garage door down,Prime the bits that are down to metal then undercoat.Start at the top and work down.I used paint thats for out side paintwork. I manged to paint my garage door standing on a chair for the high bits and i am a woman .

jcb208

Hamerite is not really suitable for a garage door as it is very hard to get a decent finish with a brush on large areas as its thick and your get dry edges as it starts drying very quickly.Best way is Scrape back loose paint and rub down,patch prime with metal primer,undercoat in correct color for your choice of finish, lightly rub down again then gloss with normal exterior gloss finish

savemoney

I find hammerite only got for small jobs like iron railings, inside guttering for rust curing. I find hammerite quite sticky/tacky feel paint ideal for jobs that dont require a nice finish

Funny enough I noticed in Halfords tonight they sell Hammerite garage door paint no idea if its any good