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Painting interior doors

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Jmayspaint 
#1 · (Edited)
Some of our interior doors (painted white) are starting to look crummy.

The trim around the doors has been painted within the last year with semi gloss bright white (which isn't helping the doors any).

I want to paint the doors but not sure how to go about it. There is a faint fake wood grain I don't want to loose but I think if I carefully brush it it will be ok.

My biggest question is should I paint the doors in semi gloss like the trim or should it be more of a ceiling white flat finish? I want to go together nicely without it sticking out either.

What do you guys normally do or what is the general practice.

Figured I'd chip away at them little by little - maybe by the the time the las door is done it will be time for the first one again - I think I counted around 35 doors in my house :(
 
#8 ·
ltd said:
yes ,paint doors semi like the trim .the doors you show are very easy to paint .a pro can knock them out in under 10 min per side .its hard to mess them up :thumbsup:
Yea, staying with the grain like Jeff described is good practice on any door. But the kind pictured are quite forgiving. They can even look pretty good done with a small roller. Or roller and brushed out.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, that's normal.

Well, I take it back. It's mind boggling, but I can't find a single picture on the web that actually gets this right and is simple enough to follow.

Take a look here.
http://www.hometips.com/how-it-works/door-construction-exterior.html

First paint the panels - both the recessed part and the depression. Doesn't matter what order you paint the panels. Paint in the direction of the grain.

The following makes perfect logical sense once you realize you want to paint with the grain, and you don't want to wreck previous grain you've painted.

After the panels, paint the mullion all the way from top to bottom. Next, paint the top rail, lock rail and bottom rail, in any order. Finally, paint the 2 stiles all the way from top to bottom (lock stile and hinge stile.)
 
#7 ·
Just make sure you have a good brush to start. I used a Purdy or Wooster 2.5" angled sash brush, matched to the type paint, most often.

And please note that "bright white white" is very unforgiving. I would think about doing the doors and trim in something a bit off white. Your eye will still read it as white but it will not look so stark or make wall color look muddy.
 
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