How to paint a uPVC front door

So we’ve all heard of Frenchic* right? The miracle paint that needs no primer, undercoat, overcoat or any other kind of coat? It’s chalky, can go on any surface and leaves the most wonderful finish. What’s not to love?

I didn’t just jump on the Frenchic bandwagon – I practically springboarded my way on there when I decided to paint our front door in Wise Old Sage*.

Obviously, we’ve only just bought the house and haven’t wasted any time in getting stuff done. I repainted our bedroom (which resulted in the paint disaster of ’20) and made over our fireplace in under 2 hours and for less than £10. But I always knew I could do something amazing with the front of the house.

Below, is the lovely Rightmove photo.

When I first booked a viewing for the house, I said to Jay that I didn’t love it, it wasn’t in the area we wanted but that we’d go have a look. Little did I know that in six months time it would be ours!

Anyway, the front needed a little (read: a big) spruce up and I thought to myself, the front door would be an easy small job that I can tackle.

So I quickly joined the Facebook group for fans of Frenchic (literally called the Frenchic Fan Forum) and got all sorts of incredible ideas from the people in there.

I bought my paint in the colour I wanted after a quick hashtag search in Instagram. Honestly, if you’re painting ANYTHING, search the name of the paint as a hashtag first. You’ll find tonnes of posts from people who have actually got the paint in their homes and you can compare how it looks. It was a lifesaver. Anyway, I was pretty much set on Wise Old Sage from the get go.

Painting my uPVC front door

Everywhere you look on the internet, experts are telling/begging you not to paint your uPVC front door – the paint won’t stick, it’ll peel off, it’ll look awful, etc. But don’t listen to the negativity. You absolutely can paint a uPVC front door and I’ll show you how.

Step 1: Clean the door

First, you must give it a good clean. You wouldn’t dry the dishes before cleaning them, right? You’ll be surprised how filthy your front door actually is. The water from ours came out black and I had to change it twice.

I used sugar soap* and sprayed the entire door. Then I used a wet cloth to wipe the door down. I did this twice because the water was so disgusting. Once you’ve done this, dry the door down using a lint-free cloth*. This bit is important as you don’t want any soap residue on your door.

Step 2: Sand the door

Now that it’s clean, you need to give it a very light sand. You’re not trying to completely sand back the door, only rough up the surface a bit. uPVC tends to be shiny and if you try to paint straight onto it, the paint may not take. You want to sand it enough so the door no longer feels shiny but a bit rough.

As you can see, I cleaned our front door thoroughly, sanded it and then cleaned it again. Always remember to clean the door after you’ve sanded, as sanding only creates more dust! I got some fresh water and a new cloth and wiped it all down before drying it again. Now time for some paint.

Step 3: Tape off the parts you don’t want to paint

To try and be extra neat and tidy and make the job that bit easier, I taped off the letterbox, door handle and around the edge of the door so I could paint without worrying about any disasters.

Step 4: Get painting!

I used Frenchic’s Al Fresco paint* for the job, as it’s ideal for outdoor use. The first coat went on so well, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was careful to use very light layers instead of plonking lots of thick paint on.

And this is the finished result!

Ignore the peeling tiles and the fact that our block paving needs jet washing but I was ASTOUNDED at the result. Instead of paying over £1,000 for a new front door, I managed to revitalise our existing one for just £24.

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