Comments on: How to Paint a Door

on 12/1/2007 I have been a decorator for 30yrs and a female one at that. I can paint a door in 10mins each side, no paint on hinges or fixings, no drips and I use a roller and brush and obtain a perfect finish. A four inch mohair roller is fine. Try not to use foam or emulsion type roller, these can leave small particles which destroy the professional look of the door.
A coat of undercoat should follow the primer, before the gloss coat.
The secret to a lovely finish is to use a minimal amount of paint on your brush and roller - no drips, ever.

on 9/7/2007 Actually a roller can be a great help if used together with a brush. (I also highly recomend adding product called "FloTrol" to your paint. It is a spraying and brushing agent and is widely available.)

Using a "small diameter" trim roller, apply paint then use a good quality 2 or 2.5 inch dry angle brush to immediately "tip out" the wet paint. (light, smooth, straight strokes which remove any roller pattern and paint pooling.

This method can cut door painting time by 75% which is great if you are doing many interior doors. It is also fine for knocking out an exterior door quickly with perfect results.

on 7/25/2007 I found the one coat Killz tint paint product in Walmart works really well on a previously painted\primed surface. Saved us some time, but what was even better is the paint can is plastic has a poor spout and lid to close the paint back up. I thought it was top notch!

on 8/8/2006 I just repainted most of the doors in our house and I first cleaned them, gave them a light sanding with 200 grit, then cleaned them again and sprayed them outside (with a HVLP spray gun) on sawhorses with gloss paint. This gave the doors an unbelievably smooth finish that looks great, and is easy to clean.

on 6/30/2006 When a door is lying horizontal (like on saw horses), do not start your paint at the top or bottom edge of the door. When your brush/roller is loaded with paint, the paint will pool along the edge, causing the paint to dry thicker at those spots and leaving a ridge that is not wanted.

on 3/30/2006 I found using a small roller very effective in getting a smooth finish in half the time. I would recommend painting the trickier parts of the door with a brush, and then applying the first coat of paint with a roller. If you are happy with the results, use the roller again for the final coat.

on 11/22/2005 To prepare the door and frame prior to painting, wipe the door clean, wipe it dry, and then lightly sand it with fine or medium fine sandpaper. Wipe the door a tack cloth to remove dust. This will cause the paint to adhere to the surface and will prevent future flaking.