Any tips on painting front door!

mom23

Hi
My wooden front door needs re painting (at the mo it is white and quite boring) and i feel like a change of colour.
Anyway i am not the best painter in the world especially with gloss paint (spend more time chasing runs!!) and being the front door :eek:
what would be the best paint to use?
(Cannot afford to get the proffesionals in )
Any tips???

TIA

espresso

If you "spend more time chasing runs" you are loading the brush with too much paint. You could try using a paint pad or even a small roller as these both help to make the paint go further. Just use good quality gloss paint, starting early in the day to give it chance to dry, before the door needs to be locked shut.

misgrace

Dont gloss over existing gloss, it wont hold the paint and will peel and flake.

Give your door a good rub down, make good any cracks etc, then undercoat, with oilbase undercoat, might pay you to buy exterior but it costs a pretty penny.
Depending on what colour your going for, a light colour use white undercoat, blues, reds, greens, use a mid or even a dark grey.
Then gently sand again, then gloss, (Oilbase) if your door is really rough, then do 2 undercoats.

If you have a panel door, then do your panels first, then you can either do your horizontal flat bits or vertical flats, and blend them into each other.

When you start in your panel, dont over load the brush, when you have finished the door, go back every 15-20 mins for about an hour, just to check if there is any runs, if there is, just get your brush and very lightly brush, after an hour you should be okay.

When you come to the gloss bit, dont use straight from the tin, as very thick, add a tad of white spirit to the gloss, and you will find it will go on smoother.:D