How to paint an external door

Inspired by a helpful YouTube guide. This walk-through is based on the popular UK tutorial "How to paint an external door" from Wickes, which covers the right prep and application technique in proper detail. Worth a watch before you crack open the tin — the bit about painting panels first saves a lot of brushmark grief.

1. Choose the right exterior paint

Not all door paints are the same. You want a proper exterior gloss or eggshell — something formulated to cope with rain, UV, and temperature swings. Satin finishes are popular these days and a bit more forgiving to apply.

Stick to oil-based or water-based exterior paint rather than repurposing leftover interior emulsion. Interior paint on an outdoor door will peel inside a season. You have been warned.

2. Clean the door thoroughly

Wash the whole door down with sugar soap and warm water to remove dirt, grease, and any chalky residue from old paint. Rinse it off properly and let it dry fully before you do anything else.

Paint will not stick to a greasy surface, however good it is. This step costs you nothing and saves you from redoing the whole job in a year.

3. Remove or mask the hardware

Take off the letterbox, knocker, handle, and house numbers if you can manage it. A screwdriver job, mostly. If any fixings are seized or painted over, mask around them carefully with tape instead.

It is also worth protecting the glass panels and any glazing bars with masking tape before you start. Peeling dried gloss off glass is the kind of task that makes an afternoon feel very long indeed.

4. Sand and fill any imperfections

Give the whole door a light sand with 120-grit paper to key the surface and smooth out any drips or rough patches from previous coats. Work with the grain on timber doors.

Fill any small cracks or holes with exterior wood filler, let it cure, then sand flush. Do not skip this on a door that is going to sit in the rain — water gets into cracks and the paint blisters around them.

5. Apply primer to bare timber or metal

If you are painting over bare wood after stripping back, apply an exterior wood primer first. On metalwork or bare MDF, use the right primer for that substrate. Going straight to topcoat without primer gives you a patchy finish and reduces how long it lasts.

On a door in reasonable condition with sound existing paint, a quick sand and clean is usually enough. You do not always need to strip everything back.

6. Paint in the correct order

This is where people go wrong. On a panelled door, paint the mouldings and recessed panels first, then the horizontal rails, then the vertical stiles. Leave the edges for last.

Work with a decent quality brush — a 50 mm or 63 mm synthetic bristle brush works well with water-based paints. Lay the paint on, then finish each section with long, light strokes in one direction to avoid brush marks.

7. Allow to cure before closing the door

Even when the paint feels dry to the touch, it has not fully cured. Close the door before it has hardened and you will lift paint off the frame. Leave it open for a few hours after the final coat — longer on a cold or damp day.

Two coats is generally the right approach, with a light sand between coats. One coat on a bare door never looks right, however thick you put it on.

When to call a handyman

Call Richard if the door has rot that needs cutting out and patching, if the frame is loose or damaged, or if you simply want the whole thing done properly in one visit without the mess and the faff. A painted door is a very satisfying job — but only when it looks right.