Painting my front door General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[GreenwichDIY]

[color=darkblue][/color] I want to repaint my front door. However paint instructions say that the door should be left to dry for 16/24 hours. I can't take the door off its hinges and if I close the door before 16/24 hours I assume the door will stick.

What do people do when painting a front door? I don't want to have to be sitting waiting for a front door to dry - obvious security implications if a front door is left open for paint to dry.

Any tips?

[theshedman]

Hi GreenwichDIY, usually the 16/24 hours relates to the times in between coats say in between undercoat and glossing to ensure the paint is dry enough to take the following coat. If you can undercoat it fairly early in the day it will be touch dry within a couple of hours, then you will be able to close it without it sticking. Then the day after give it a very light sanding to get rid of any rough bits wipe it down and then gloss it. The gloss will take a lot longer to dry than the undercoat so the earlier you can do it the better. The Door should then be left open for as long as possible to allow it to dry but should be fine to close it by the early evening. Hope this helps. Don't forget the better you prepare the surface before you paint it the better the finish will be and always use good quality paintbrush.

Shed

[rosebery]

16 /24 hours is for the paint to cure fully. Paint it first thing in the morning and by the evening you should be able to close it quite happily. Don't put the paint on too thickly or it will take longer to dry. Better to have 3 thin coats (rub down between each when dry) than two thick ones. Paint additional coats on consecutive days.

Cheers

[MCWARNS]

That depends on the door and the condition it is in. If the paint is not flaking, mossy, or in any other way damaged and you are keeping the color the same (or close) then you shouldn't NEED to prime it. If the color is changing or it is a metal door that has not been painted before than you do need to prime it.

[Martin Roy]

The front door of your house leaves first impression for your house, so if you have no other mean to wait then you should. I don't think that after 3,4 hours your door would stick, you can use a pedestal fan to dry it earlier.