Painting internal doors

[dan76n]

Hi all,
We are about to start painting all of our internal doors with a white enamel.
What is the best way to paint them. ie, lay them flat, use a brush, use a roller, spray them ?????

All advice welcome.

[celeste]

Hi dan76n

1st roll the paint on and then brush them down with a good brush. If they are new stand them against a wall, if they are already hung leave them there.

Celeste

[Metung]

I'm no expert painter and doors have invariably issued the greatest challenge. I have tried brushing, rolling and spraying in the vertical and horizontal position (SWMBO got a bit sick of all the experimentation after a while) and have come to the conclusion that for flat surfaces on doors it is best to use a 75mm short haired roller in the horizontal position.The roller is also good on the edges.

[journeyman Mick]

Drive 2 x 3" nails into bottom of the doors, tack a couple of offcuts about 300 long across the tops of the doors. Stand the doors up against a wall and use a roller to paint one face, tipping it off with a brush straight away. Holding the door by the edges, turn it around and repeat for the other face. Then use a brush to paint the top, bottom and edges, making sure you remove any runs etc that tend to build up on the arrisses (right angle junctions between face and edges etc). You need to use a good quality brush, but not a brand new one, best bet is to break it in by using it for undercoat first as this gives it a chance to shed any loose bristles. When finished, remove the nails etc and touich up where the offcuts were tacked across the top.

Mick

[The Apprentice]

Hi Dan,

This is my $2.00 worth....

Ideally you will need; the following

120 grit ( fine) sandpaper
dusting brush (an old wide paint brush)
75 mm angled Sash Cutter ( Thats a particular style of paint brush )
Masking tape ( say 20mm wide )
230mm roller cage
230mm foam roller

This is how to paint a flat panel door that is reasonable good condition:

Leave the doors on....open the door so you can get to the inside edge, tape up the hinges top and bottom use stanley knife to trim.

Using 120 grit sand paper lightly sand door edges and both main faces. You need to do this so that the enamel has something to grab onto.

Dust off the door with your dusting brush, so she is dust free!

I like to use a satin enamel rather than a full gloss, satin looks softer, full gloss shows every little ding in the door. ( personal choice )

Ok now its time to get some paint out, id get a small painters pot and quarter fill with enamel, get some turps and and give it a good splash to thin it down, you need to get your paint so she is smooth to work with. ie it doesnt drag......

Get a small door wedge and jam the door so you can get to the inside edge ( thats the one with the hinges). Get you brush and paint the inside edge first top to bottom, then paint the outside edge top to bottom.

Now grab that foam roller, (which will give you a sprayed look if done well) dip her in your tray of thinned down enamel and quickly work the enamel over the face of the door. You will need to put a moderate amount onto your roller, ( dont be shy! ) a few air bubbles may appear but as you work the paint over the entire face these should disappear. Dont forget to run the roller from top to bottom lightly over the entire face, then leave it alone..... dont play with the paint anymore....now swap sides....

Take the wedge out and swing the door around, wedge it again, load up your roller with paint, push it all over the door, evenly then lay it off, that is lightly running the roller over the entire face from top to bottom.

Job done.....

Couple of other things...

You can "tip off " the paint with a brush if you want, you need a good quality brush to do this otherwise you will lose brush hairs in the paint, (personally unless your doing this every day dont do it, youll end up with brush marks in your work and your doors will look like ?????.

The foam rollers are cheap $2.50 each and you can chuck them away at the end of the day no need to wash them out.

You can use a short pile mohair roller as well, alot dearer gives similar look.

Anyway good luck, cant go wrong ....hope this helps.

Dave