Painting plastic coated doors

[BobL]

My son's family have just moved into a new place and it has those awful lightweight plastic coated woodgrain look internal doors. The finish looks like plastic, is it possible to paint over the top of these and if so does it need any special primer etc.

[Big Shed]

If you are talking about these doors

https://www.bunnings.com.au/corinthian-doors-2040-x-720-x-35mm-stanford-internal-door_p2014423

They are not plastic, they are a pressed masonite skin and come from the factory pre-primed.

They ae easy to paint and depending on what type of paint you want to refinish them with you may well not need a primer. Make sure they are thoroughly cleaned with sugar soap and sanded prior to applying the new top coat.

Alternatively you can undercoat them with a good quality water based undercoat followed by your choice of top coat.

[BobL]

If you are talking about these doors
https://www.bunnings.com.au/corinthian-doors-2040-x-720-x-35mm-stanford-internal-door_p2014423 .

Thanks Fred,

That looks like them except they have a definite yellowish tint to the finish that matches the colour of the door frame. If it's paint it must have been a spray because the wood look grain stands out clearly and theres no paint goop in the recessed corners etc. It could also be the primer has just yellowed with age - i think the house is about 15 years old.

[ian]

my MIL's house has those sort of internal doors. I too thought the outer layer was molded plastic, but I suppose molded masonite would appear the same.

Unfortunately, I can't see how you would sand them as the fake "grain" is 1-2 mm deep. I don't now how you would sand the base of the "grain".

one way to approach the task is to make a set of new internal doors :D

[Pete57]

My house is full of them. I am gradually repainting them. Have been taking off and sanding outside to keep dust out of house. Use a ROS the flat parts then hand sand the rest. Wash with sugar soap. Water based undercoat and gloss. Make sure to paint bottom of door while off. They are not usually painted so bathroom doors usually start to swell at the bottom due to moisture exposure. Not my favourite but too expensive to replace.

Peter

[BobL]

I did a trial paint today and I was really pleased at how well they took the paint.