Painting Doors

[EnglishRose]

Our doors are looking a bit worse for wear with flaking paint although they are still solid. They are red and I'd like to change the colour (or even just strip them back and varnish them), whichever is likely to last longer. Any suggesting of paint or materials I should look at for longevity? Thanks so much.

[blackrose]

The basic process is primer, undercoat, top coats - at least a couple of coats of each. 

 

If you're just sanding down the existing paint and you don't go through to the metal or wood then you don't need primer. But the base prep must be good. You can't paint over flaking paint.

 

Choose good quality paint as it's more flexible than the cheap stuff and will cope with thermal expansion & contraction. I like Hemple/Blake's primer/undercoat. For your topcoats you can use household gloss if you choose a good hard-wearing exterior brand. Or buy marine paint at 3 times the price.

 

If you want a really good finish you should be rubbing down between coats. If you don't really care too much just get subsequent coats on within 3 days for maximum adhesion (single part paints).

Edited May 1, 2023 by blackrose

[EnglishRose]

18 minutes ago, blackrose said:

can use household gloss if you choose a good hard-wearing exterior brand

Thank you for your detailed reply. I guessed marine paint is expensive - any particular brand of gloss you'd recommend?

[BEngo]

Rylards, Craftmaster, Symphony, Tekaloid,  Johnstones, Dulux Weathershield,  Dacrylate  for starters..  It all depends on  how shiny you want.

 

For varnish either Epifanes with UV filter or Le Tonkinois.  Ronseal exterior yacht varnish at a push.

 

Whatever, if it says anything other than High or Very High VOC on the tin, or cleans up with water,  you don't want it.

 

N

[EnglishRose]

My dad has lots of tractor/car paint in his garage (although Ford tractor blue is probably the most common)! It's a very high gloss. Would this be ok for the wooden doors, with a suitable primer/undercoat which he probably has too) once I've got all the flakiness off.

[BEngo]

Yes, in theory, but most car ans some tractor paint is meant to be sprayed.  OK if you can find brushing retardant, though even that may not slow the drying enough to get a decent finish.  If they are brushing paints they should be fine.

 

N

[Higgs]

My approach to painting or varnishing wood is to thin the first coat down. Mainly to help with absorption. When varnishing and usually also when painting wood, stay with the grain.