How to Paint a Front Door

Check the weather — you need a dry day between 50-85°F with low humidity and no rain in the forecast for at least 24 hours. Direct sunlight will dry the paint too fast and cause brush marks, so plan to paint in the morning or on the shaded side of the house. Use a screwdriver to remove the doorknob, deadbolt, knocker, kick plate, and any other hardware. Drop all screws and small parts into a labeled ziplock bag. If you can't remove the hardware, mask it carefully with painter's tape.

Mix a solution of TSP cleaner (or a few drops of dish soap) in warm water and scrub the entire door with a sponge, paying extra attention to the area around the knob and kick plate where hand oils and grime collect. Rinse with clean water and let the door dry completely — at least 30 minutes in warm weather. For steel or fiberglass doors, wipe down with a damp rag instead of soaking. Any grease or dirt left on the surface will prevent the paint from adhering properly.

Sand the entire door with 120-grit sandpaper to scuff the existing finish and give the new paint something to grip. For wood doors, sand in the direction of the grain. For steel doors, use 220-grit to lightly scuff without gouging the metal. Fill any dents, nail holes, or cracks with wood filler (wood doors) or exterior spackle (steel/fiberglass), let it dry, then sand the patches flush with 220-grit. Wipe the entire door with a tack cloth to remove every particle of dust — dust trapped under paint creates bumps that are impossible to fix without starting over.

Apply painter's tape along the edges of any glass panels, sidelights, or weatherstripping you want to protect. If you're painting over bare wood, a dramatically different color, or a surface where the old paint is peeling, apply one coat of exterior bonding primer with your foam roller on the flat surfaces and a brush for the edges and any recessed panels. Let the primer dry according to the label (usually 1-2 hours). If you're repainting over the same paint type in solid condition, you can skip primer.

If your door has raised or recessed panels, start with these using your angled sash brush. Load the brush about 1/3 of the way and paint the inside of each panel first — the recessed area — then the beveled edges around each panel. Work from the top of the door down. Keep coats thin and watch for drips pooling in the panel corners. For a flat (slab) door with no panels, skip this step and go straight to rolling.

Load your 4-inch foam roller with a thin, even coat of paint and roll the flat areas of the door — the rails, stiles, and any large flat sections — in long, even strokes from top to bottom. Immediately after rolling a section, lightly drag a clean, dry brush through the wet paint in one direction (this is called "back-tipping") to smooth out any roller stipple and create a uniform texture. Work quickly so you're always painting into a wet edge. One thin coat should cover evenly without drips.

Let the first coat dry for the time specified on the paint can — typically 4-6 hours for exterior latex, though some paints say 24 hours between coats. Don't rush this; a second coat applied too early will bubble, peel, or create an uneven sheen. Lightly sand the first coat with 220-grit sandpaper to knock down any tiny imperfections, wipe with a tack cloth, and apply the second coat using the same panel-then-roll-then-back-tip sequence. Two thin coats will look dramatically better than one thick coat.