How to paint a new front door by brush

[Dengue]

I have always had a good deal of trouble painting by brush.

I am about to paint by brush our new timber front door which is yet to be hung. I will be coating with two Sikkens products, about 4 coats in all.

The top and bottom edges have to be painted too.

What is the best way to paint this, to minimise the runs e.g., do I lay it flat on a trestle and only paint the top surface, wait till it dries ( 24 hours they recommend) and then do the other side, and after that dries finally do the edges?

Should I use masking tape to prevent runs from the edges going on to the flat surfaces?

I would gratefully appreciate any suggestions and ideas.

[DJ’s Timber]

Rather than putting the door directly on the trestles, drive a large screw or nail and inch or so in the centre of the top and 2 at the bottom and rest it on the trestles via screws or nails, paint one side, lift bottom of door and rotate via the top nail on trestle, then proceed to paint second side

Can't help with painting info though.

[KJ401]

Using screws or nails per DJ Hoarder is essential.

Paint the second best face first (usually the inside face) - gives you a chance to figure out the habits of the finishing material.

Dont worry about masking the other face; when you're painting the edges, don't have too much finish loaded on the brush - better it is a bit dry as the edges can be coated again when you do the other side of the door. When you've run all the way along each edge, run your finger along the under surface to flatten any dribbles. Or use the brush.

Not sure whether the Sikkens finish is a polyurethane varnish or an oil, but if it has an properties of being able to flow - flatten itself - think about using foam brushes rather than bristle brushes. You can still apply your finish across the grain and when its fully coated, tip it - run your brush's tip with the grain, evening out the finish. (makes varnishing verticals something less than terrifying) And tip it means tip it. Just the tip, just lightly brushing the top of the finish, not dragging it hither and nither.

[Fuzzie]

It also depends on what style of door. If it's frame and panel, instructions such as How to Paint 6 Panel Doors by numbers | eHow.com are helpful. A flat surface would require a different approach.

[Phil Spencer]

If you are using enamel stand your paint in very how water and use a new good quality brush, you will have no brush marks when the paint dries, my father an old house painter use to use this trick and get a 'mirrored' finish

[Dengue]

Thanks for these comments everyone, very much appreciated.

Firstly I should explain that it is a solid timber door with 4 rectangular panels of frosted glass installed horizontally, one above the other, that cost $600 made to fit.

So I am very reluctant to put screws in the top and bottom and support the door only on these. A slight knock on the trestle and the door will fall, knowing my luck. Also, the door weighs a ton, so I doubt if the screws would be much use for support.

I like the tip about heating the paint. No problems here in the tropics - the biggest problem is to keep perspiration dripping on the finish

Is there any other way to do both sides and the 4 edges in the one session?

[KJ401]

Rather than using the screw suggestion, drive some reasonably beefy nails into the top of trestles, and cut them off evenly. The door then sits on these - leaving very small marks. This is how polishers finish both sides of a panel. Do the non-show face first.

If you're worried about flow and levelling, I'd be cautious about heating modern polyurethanes - better to add an appropriate flow agent as sold by your local paint shop.

[ian]

Jill
I take it the door is yet to be hung

does it fit the opening, or is it slightly oversize (by maybe 5 to 10mm) which will need to be planed off when the door is hung?

If the latter, I'd only paint the top and bottom and the edge the hinges go in, leaving the rest till afer the door is hung.

[Strom]

Being a 4 panel door it will need to be painted entirely bye brush..
Buy a decent brush (50mm pure bristle)..
Now the safest method to paint a door and avoid over-handling it is to paint it after it has been fitted (Remove hardware) just be sure to seal the bottom edge first.
& Make certain the weather is going to be appropriate for painting even when your finished and the door is still drying.
Failing all this and considering its an expensive door including glazing and your not confidant with a brush.I would call in a painter. And make sure they are reputable.

If you still believe your up to the task. Then there is plenty info in the painting forums covering this topic.

Goodluck

[soundman]

I have found by far the best way to support a door for painting is by putting screws into the holes used to mount the hinges.....same size and thread...possibly longer, and hang the door on chain use washers and put the screws thru the chain.

remove all possible hardware and door furniture

thus the door hangs hinges up and lock down.....you have access to all edges of the door.
no need to turn the door, no need to move it till it is dry and hard.... no marks

By far the best method of painting a door (at least finish coats) is by spraying....you can get perfect finish with not a single brush stroke.

But this isn't practical for everybody
Clear finishes are far more forgiving with texture caused finish errors than solid colours so don't get all worried.

If you are working with polyeurathane.....you have to thin it, it will perform soo much better...do not thin too much or it will dry a little cloudy.....arround 10% or a little less should do the trick.... just enough to make it flow like warm oil

then....go and buy your self a decent quality " cutter" brush... I prefeer an "oval cutter" if you are lightly built and have small hands a 2" should be just right...if you are stronger particularly in the wrists you might push a 3".
Softer is better but not too soft.

the oval cutter will give a tapered brush stroke, less product applied at the edges.
I find this makes the strokes less visable.

I strogly recommend using a compatable sanding sealer, at least for the first coat,) and then sand with the grain to remove the raised grain.( two coats of sealer sanding after each is better

then go with your chosen finish.

don't bother to even try to mask for runs, i wont help.
Most certainly mask any glass or detail items that cant be removed.

If you can... cool ( not cold) dry (ish) weather is the go.

Poly will stay very "green" for a time and will re-wet and re-flow if overcoated during this time....a light touch and a wet ( ish) brush will promote this.

now
start with the edges....go all arround the edges making sure you do not allow runs onto the face, "tip off" the faces where they meed the edges with a dry (ish) brush to take off any runs or over brush, immediately.

now onto the faces, treat all edges first as you come to them......so moving down start at the top edge (the hinge edge of the door as hung), paint all along the edge and a little way down the side edges....now make with long fluid strokes.

Get the product on and then "tip it off" to flatten out the finish with full length strokes.

as you come to the glass frames.....paint the edges up to your masking....put just enough on to get coverage.

then continue with the flat areas between

and continue to the bottom.

The secrets of a good polly finish are

Thin your product...very important

A good quality brush, small enough that you can handle and get consistent good quality strokes, but big enough to get some speed.

Get the product on and spread ( thick and fast), then work it up to a finish with a wet but unloaded brush, and long even strokes

work quickly so as to keep a " wet running edge"....

remove any runs immediately
With thinned product the runs should happen almost immedaitely......learn each time and only apply the minimum product to get a good flow


I'll say it again...thinning polly is the big secret.....it then flows on and behaves less like jam, the brush strokes flow ( and the runs) flow out in seconds rather than minutes, and while drying might be faster ( particularly in hot weather) the finish remains workable longer.

Sorry I don't agree with the hot water method in warm climates....( I have tried it).....it makes the stuff go of too fast, ( sticky jammy PITA) particularly if you havn't thinned the product, and unless you maintain the temperature in a heated bath, the performance of the paint changes as it cools

Very big tip.
Don't learn this method on something that matters.....work up you skill on something unimportant and smaller, like a packing crate or the door to hubby's shed.

Painting / varnishing doors is possibly more chalenging than finishing table tops.

Particularly front doors, it needs to be perfect.


Remember.....you must overcoat polly within 2 days, or the next coat may not bond to the previous.....if it is left more than two days (3 or 4 if it is cold) you must sand before the next coat.

Polly is weird stuff it has these various stages of cure.

If you wont to sand.... ya realy got a let it go off reasobably well or it will clog the paper and carry on.....Ive had polly in cold wet weather take 36 hours to go off enough to sand

Sanding sealer (even polly) goes off faster and can be sanded easier and earlier.

let us know how you go

cheers

[rod1949]

Hey! I thought you had become pretty gung ho with spray painting? So spray it and get a lot better finish.

I spray painted every door (18 in total) in my recently OB built house, very time consuming in terms of spray one side wait to dry and then do the other side 3 plus times per side, but the finish is absolutley mickey mouse. I did them all in low sheen oil based paint.

[Fuzzie]

Another thing to consider is leaving it long enough between coats to allow a decent sanding. If you are using enamel paint this could be as long as a week, not the optimistic 24hr drying between coats listed on the can, especially for the sealer and undercoat layers.

[soundman]

Definitely spraying doors the way to go is to hang from the hinge mounts that way you can spray the whole door in one hit...and you can hit it with the second coat while it is too green to handle ( a real pluss with enamel)

Drying time with polly is still slow but much better than normal enamel.

If you are in a hurry, forget the turps bassed enamel and go to a automotive refinish supplier and get some quick dry thinners bassed enamel, in good warm dry weather this stuff is off to handle in a hour probably 4 to 6 for good sanding.... but try and avoid sanding it at all

as for sanding..that is very much why I am infavor of sanding sealer.....if you work up your surface with sanding sealer for clear finishes and undercoat for paint it's soo much better.

For example wattyl estipol sanding sealer will be off enough to sand pretty well in 6 to 8 hours in warm dry weather....the estipol top coat would be at least 12 to 18 hours before I would even try... the sanding sealer has heaps more solids in it and sands 10 times more freely than the top coat and clogs the paper much less.

you will save a lot of time and get a better result.

If I am painting wood items these days I will use thinners bassed undercoat because it drys very fast and is intended to be sanded.

Most turps bassed household finishes are not intended to be sanded.

If you do most of your work with the sealer or undercoat, it will work faster and you will get a better result......you are not depending on the top coat to consolidate the surface and fill grain.....this you will only need 1 maybe 2 top coats to get a good solid finish, and you can generaly avoid sanding the top coat product at all.

cheers