Can I Paint a Storm Door?

Theoretically, you can paint anything you take a notion to paint, such as the walk leading from your front door to the street or the car seats you never liked. Wait — what? OK, so you can try — but good luck with the outcome. It's much less challenging to paint a storm door, however, and definitely less weird. You simply need to take into consideration the material from which your door is made.

Lots of old storm doors are made of wood, and wood storm doors are still being manufactured. It's a no-brainer that you can paint these. You'll simply need to sand sufficiently, prime when necessary, and use high-quality, durable exterior paint.

Most of today's big door and window manufacturers, however, produce aluminum-clad storm doors. It's possible to paint aluminum storm doors, but the companies recommend that you do not, stating in their warranty information that any alteration of the door voids the warranty.

If you have reason to be unconcerned about warranty issues and are determined to proceed with painting your storm door, consult with the manufacturer of your chosen paint for clear specifics from knowledgeable paint pros on how to use the product in such a project. Basically, for aluminum doors, you'll need to sand with 400-grit sandpaper and use a direct-to-metal paint. You can also apply metal-bonding primer and then either brush or spray with a high-quality exterior enamel paint.

If you decide that you simply don't want to tackle the painting project yourself, call your local paint stores to see whether they can recommend a professional painter who is skilled with a paint sprayer. When that doesn't work and you find that none of the colors appeal to you while shopping for a new door, don't give up. Check with different manufacturers to see whether you can get a custom color from them for an extra charge. Also, ask about colors they've discontinued. They may be able to direct you to websites or businesses that have older stock.

Ask dealers if they know of manufacturers that have gone out of business or that have dropped doors from their product line and then search salvage businesses and online sites, like eBay or Facebook Marketplace, to see if discontinued doors show up secondhand in colors that you like.

If none of these approaches helps you find what you want, remember that you can more easily add a pop of color by painting the front door that will partially or fully show through your storm door. Taking this approach can really create opportunities for exciting color experimentation, allowing your storm door to serve as a complementary, neutral frame. With smart choices, the result can be a more eye-catching attention-getter for your house than a painted storm door in any color would be.