How to paint a metal garage door
I painted our uPVC front door and was obsessed with the difference it made to the front of our house. It took our front door from a boring, faded brown to a gorgeous summery green sage.
It was so easy, I decided I wanted to tackle our garage door, too. I hadn’t painted anything metal previously, and the door already had at least 3 previous coats of paint on it, but I thought I’d give it a try. That dark green wasn’t hitting the spot for me – it wasn’t hugely offensive or an awful colour, but I knew I could make it look better.
This is what I started with:
Painting a metal garage door with Frenchic
To paint a metal garage door, you will need:
- Step ladders
- Sandpaper
- Your paint of choice (I used Frenchic’s Al Fresco* paint, suitable for outdoors)
- A damp cloth
- Sugar soap*
- A dry cloth
Step 1: Clean the garage door thoroughly
This step took longer than I anticipated. The garage door was covered in spiderwebs and the nooks and crannies made it a little awkward to clean.
I applied some sugar soap to an already damp cloth and then went over the entire door. You will need step ladders for this, to reach the very top part of the door. Then, I rinsed it again with just water to ensure all the soapy residue was done.
Step 2: Sand the door
Once it was clean, I gave it a sand all over. This is really important, so you should take your time to do this step.
The above image really shows the difference between the sanded part (the top) and the non-sanded (the bottom). It’s so important to rough up the surface so that the paint has something to stick to, otherwise it may not last very long.
I also wanted to get rid of any existing flaking paint at this stage, so that my new coat of paint wouldn’t start to come away in the future too. Sanding did just this.
Step 3: Thoroughly reclean the door
After I sanded, I spent lots of time cleaning the door again. Same with the front door, sanding creates a lot of dust that you need to wipe away before painting. Look how the colour of my cloth came out!
The prep really is the worst part and took me about two hours before I could even start painting.
Step 4: Paint the metal door
Once it was all clean, sanded and dry, I applied the first coat. First coat fear is a real thing and it was so patchy! Luckily it was a warm day, so the paint was drying fast and I could put my second coat on as soon as I’d finished the first.
With any paint, I’d recommend that you apply a small amount at a time to avoid drips. Frenchic paint goes a long way, and a small 500ml tin did 3 coats of paint on the front door and 2 coats on the garage.
All in all, the job took me around 8 hours. But the result is more than worth it!
Now the front door and the garage door match in the same gorgeous colour. We’ve since replaced the lights on our garage too, so we have gorgeous up and down lighters that come on in the evening.
Frenchic doesn’t have usual stockists, like B&Q or Wickes. You have to find a specialist store near you. You can use their website, put in your postcode and find your nearest stockist. Alternatively, you can purchase the paint through their website. Just remember, when using Frenchic on external surfaces, to buy their Al Fresco paint*, ideal for outside use.
