Introduction
Spray painting your garage doors can be a quick and easy way to give your home a fresh, new look – and can even increase the value of your home. However, if you’re doing the paint job yourself, it’s important to follow a few steps to ensure that the paint job looks professional and lasts for a long time. Hiring a professional garage door spray painting company will achieve the best results in the shortest time, but if you’re on a limited budget and good at DIY, you can still get fairly decent results.
What You’ll Need
Before you start spray painting, there are some essential supplies which you will need to use if you want a high quality finish on the paint job, free from mess and overspray:
- A high-quality, exterior-grade paint specifically designed for metal surfaces – any other paint will either start fading in the weather conditions or they will have trouble bonding with the metallic garage door surface, so this is a very important supply which you should not skimp on.
- A paint sprayer or a can of spray paint
- Masking tape
- Drop cloths
- Sandpaper
- Degreaser
- A ladder
One you have everything you need, we can go through the steps to spray painting your garage doors
How To Paint Your Garage Door
1) Prepare the surface: The first step in any paint job is to make sure the surface is clean. Use a degreaser to remove any dirt, grime, or oil from the garage doors. Then, use sandpaper to rough up the surface of the metal, which will help the paint adhere better – if you have another layer of paint which is starting to peel or is low quality, you should ideally completely sand it off before moving on. If the surface is not properly cleaned, the paint will stick to dirt and dust instead of the door’s surface – meaning it can peel very easily needing to be repainted.
2) Mask off any areas you don’t want to paint: Use masking tape to protect any areas that you don’t want to get paint on, such as the surrounding walls or frame of the door, this might seem like a tedious step but it will save you time that you would have to spend carefully trying not to get mess all over the surrounding area of the garage door, which also will leave a very low quality looking paint job. It is practically impossible to spray paint without masking tape if you want to have a good finish.
3) Prepare the area: Prepare the area where you are planning to paint and try to keep it well-ventilated, typically you don’t need to worry about this if your garage door is already installed since you will be outside already. Spread out drop cloths to protect the ground from any paint that ends up on the floor – or you’ll be left with a half painted floor as well as a painted garage door.
4) Prime the doors: If your garage doors are particularly old or have a lot of dents or scratches, it’s a good idea to prime them before painting. This will help the paint adhere better and give you a smoother finish. Even if your door is in perfect shape this is always a good step to follow since it doesn’t take long – all you need to do is spray a layer of primer and wait for it to dry then you’re good to go.
5) Mix the paint: If you’re using a paint sprayer, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for mixing the paint before loading it into your paint sprayer. If you’re using a can of spray paint, you only need to shake it since all the ingredients are already in the can of paint.
6) Test your paint mixture: Just before you decide to spray your garage door, give your spray gun a test to see if everything is working properly, you can use some cardboard boxes or newspaper to see if the mixture seems fairly consistent. This will give you a sense of how the paint is flowing and how much coverage you’ll get with each pass – it also gives you the chance to remix your paint if the mixture isn’t flowing or adhering correctly.
7) Start painting: Hold the sprayer or can about 12 inches away from the garage door surface and move it in a steady, back-and-forth motion. Make sure to overlap each pass slightly to ensure you are getting good coverage across the entire door. If you’re using a paint sprayer, you may need to thin the paint slightly to ensure it flows smoothly through the nozzle. You can paint a couple layers if the paint seems slightly uneven, and if you want a gloss finish you can also spray a layer of gloss over the surface of the paint once the paint has dried – all you need to do is either buy a gloss can or mixture and apply it the exact same way as the paint.
8) Let the paint dry: Once you’ve finished spraying the doors, let the paint dry for at least 24 hours before removing the masking tape and reattaching any handles or hardware, this is just to make sure you don’t ruin all of your work with impatience.
Congratulations! If you followed these steps correctly, you should now have a high quality new paint job for your garage door, which will give your house more aesthetic appeal as well as adding value and personality to your home. As you can see from the steps above, this will take several hours to complete along with access to the necessary tools and equipment. If you want to save time and achieve a better standard finish, it’s always recommended to use a professional like PBM Paints. They will be able to complete the job in a fraction of the time, whilst providing a higher standard of finish which just isn’t possible without professional equipment and expertise.
