Tips on how to paint your garage door

Your garage door is a large surface that is clearly visible to everyone going past your house. Keeping it in good condition can make the whole house seem fresher and offer a pleasant view when you're looking at your house. The easiest way to freshen up your garage door is to give it a new coat of paint. Painting garage doors is a fairly simple procedure and it's fully possible to do it yourself without consulting any professionals. However, there are a few things you should think about when painting to get the best result possible.

Cleaning it

The first thing you need to make sure when painting your garage door is to clean it properly. Scrub it with sandpaper to get rid of all types of dirt. You should raise and lower your garage door to make sure you're reaching all parts of it while cleaning. Be extra thorough when cleaning the underside of the door, as this is the only part of the door that is touching the ground. This part of the door is therefore extra prone to build up a layer of grease and dirt. If you aren't just putting on a new layer of the same paint you already have, but repainting the door completely, you need to sand the door with a rougher sandpaper to get rid of all the old paint before cleaning it. In either case you should finish the cleaning with water and detergent and then let it dry.

Primer or undercoat

If you're painting on the metal surface of the garage door instead of on the layer of old paint, you need to use a primer before painting to make sure the result lasts as long as possible. Usually, paints have a recommendation on what primer to use printed on the can. If you're painting on top of old paint, you should use an undercoat of paint instead of a primer. Paint a thin layer of undercoat on all surfaces of the garage door and let it dry completely before continuing. The undercoat will preserve the result of the top coat longer and make any colour stand out more.

Painting panel edges

If you have a garage door made from panels, you also need to make sure you're painting the under and upper edge of the individual panels and not just the edges of the door itself. The easiest way to do this is to disengage the garage door opener and fold the door up step by step manually while painting. Let the paint on the edges dry sufficiently before moving on the next edge to avoid smudging. 


Share