Painting a door

[Goose]

I need to replace an internal door in my house. I have found the exact door at Bunnings. I have someone to hang it and someone to do the locks.

My only problem is painting it so that its color matches the existing doors in the house.

Luckily all the doors are white. I just now need to work out whether the existing doors are full gloss, semi gloss, oil or water based. Any ideas of how to do that? If i get the gloss right (my feeling is that its semi gloss) will it make much difference whether i get oil vs water right?

[GGV8Cruza]

If you still have the old door that you took off peel off a piece of the door which has been painted. Head off down to the paint suppplier and they will be able to match the colur and also be able to tell you what type of paint was used

GG

[MDS69]

I started painting all the timber work in our house from a cream colour to a bright white in a semi gloss. I am using a Dulux product called Aquanamel. It is a water based enamel paint. If I had my time again I would use an oil based enamel. The water based one requires 2 coats of primer/undercoat and then two coats of colour just to get the coverage. Also it is not as hard wearing as proper enamel.

If the door being replaced is stuffed then chisel or cut a piece and take it to a paint shop and ask the expert behind the counter.

[Pipeliner]

And if you think that "white" is a paint colour you are in for a rude awakening!

[muzza01]

And if you think that "white" is a paint colour you are in for a rude awakening!

Too true

[gordo350]

Ha. Like the bit where you mentioned the expert behind the counter. .!!!!!

gordo350

[MDS69]

Ha. Like the bit where you mentioned the expert behind the counter. .!!!!!

gordo350

Ha Ha that is why I didn't say Bunnings thinking he might have more luck at a paint shop.

[Beachman]

Oil based ‘white’ normally turns cream after a couple of years, but oil base does give a nice finish. Water base needs multiple coats and doesn’t come close to the finish of the oil based paint.

But oil based paints aren’t as easy to put on.

[Goose]

The thing that is the biggest surprise from the replies is about "white". I didn't even think that there would be 20+ shades of white, let alone the paint type and gloss.

I am going to follow the advice of just smashing a bit of door off and taking it down to the Paint Place. Defo not going to Bunnings for this, as i require an expert answer 

Thanks everyone

[Beatle]

But it's not like painting a panel on a car where new paint abuts old.  So if the new door is a half a shade different to the other doors in the home, it's unlikely to be noticeable.

And, there are more like 20,000 shades of 'white' not twenty    I mean, there are at least 50 shades of grey.....

[Kiwijohn]

Just so you know I am only a home DIYer. I have learnt from friends who do it for a living and from making errors.

From experience, for just 1 door I would pay someone to do it. Go to a door shop, pay a few dollars more for the door and maybe $150 for them to paint, deliver and fit.

If you are going to do it yourself a spray gun does the best finish, if you don't have one then the expense is not worth it for 1 door. You can try the below method

Step 1 - prep area where you are going to paint the door - remember you are putting on multiple coats and have to allow time for each coat to dry. Make sure it is out of the rain and as dust free as possible. The stand for the door is easy - two bits of wood screwed to the bottom at a right angle (from experience do it out of the wind no matter how good a day it is)
Step 2 - roll on coat of paint with cheap roller. Then go over it with tips of a brush to get rid of air bubbles (this is important even for under coats as once you have bubbles you have bubbles. If hot it is good to have someone helping you to ensure it doesn't dry.
Step 3 - throw out roller (or if you used an expensive one wash it) and wash brush.
Step 4 - repeat 2 and 3 until you have required number of coats.

I had it down by the 3rd door and hid the first two in unseen places. Things to remember (that I learnt the hard way)
- dust is not your friend
- best to be safe and give full drying time plus some.
- make sure you paint top and bottom to seal door, a flip between coats is good to get bottom.

I used the above method with water based gloss paint - was told afterwards that oil based is more forgiving and easier to get the same great look.

Hope that helps

John

[cheif carlos]

A couple of things i have learnt about Aquaenamel don't paint in the wet or on hot days it bubbles and if you can get hold of  very short nap roller (2 or 3mm) about 100-150mm long.
Was told this by a real bloke behind the counter and from experiance painting our house at broken hill

May just help a few who have not used it before

Jason

[jaycamrie]

Hey Goose ,
If it is a internal door, external door  eg laundry make sure you prime the underneath edge before fitting ,all gloss enamels will yellow with age your other doors probally started out white but have yellowed you will not stop it using enamel ,but in saying that enamel will always give you a glossier finish then Acrylic most painters use acrylic in new houses these days but i still prefer enamel , as others have said just slice a bit of the old door and slip down to a paint shop or bunnings and they will scan it for you (free) and you should get a colour that is that close it will not matter , i would give a local painter a call and see if they can paint it for you might cost $150 or so but by the time you muck around and buy primer ,undercoat ,gloss enamel ,a brush , a roller , sandpaper , a bit of turps and the pain of doing it and probally still will not look as good as a professional finish is it worth it ? my opinion anyway

cheers Jason

[Goose]

Thanks guys, i'm underway now with the primer and the paint.

I bought the paint at Bunnings in the end. The person there was very helpful and spent a heap of time on my case. Probably because the place was empty on a Tuesday night. I'm sure if i went there on a Saturday morning it would be a different story though.

The Bunnings lady basically said that the machines that detect paint colour don't work properly on white, due to a lack of contrast. She tried it with all 3 color dictionaries on the computer and all she got was "white". The only way to properly guess the shade of white paint is to try a heap of sample pots and wait for them to dry and then look at them close up, from a distance, at an angle and so on. Using a section of the old door about 1 foot square we tried about 10 different whites and think we got it exact in the end.

Also - to tell if you have water or oil based paint on existing surfaces is easy. Just rub it with turps. If the turps eats the paint then you have oil based or thereabouts. Seems pretty obvious in hindsight.

The gloss they can just tell by experience. It was gloss.

Am doing the painting in the garage, so am dust free. Fingers crossed.

[jaycamrie]

Rub with metho Acrylic will always rub off
Enamel might not always rub off with turps