Painting is a quick way to make an older garage door look new. Succeed with your home improvement project by following these three tips.

3 Tips for Painting Your Garage Door Successfully

Whether you’ve got an old-fashioned real wood door, a door made from composite materials, or a solid metal model, a fresh coat of paint is the fastest visual garage door improvement. Painting isn’t quite as durable as the original coating on a factory door, but it’s well worth having to re-coat the door every few years if it helps you make the most of an otherwise good door. Try these three tips for the best results.

Remove Peeling Paint

Start your garage renovation by making sure there’s nothing loose on the surface of the door itself. You can’t start garage door painting while there’s still loose flakes of the previous coating hanging on. A wire-bristled brush is the most useful tool for this step. Don’t worry about scratching or damaging the intact coating on the door because it will be covered with the new coat of paint.

Sand Everywhere

Knocking loose remnants of previous painting and coating projects isn’t enough. Once you’ve focused on peeling and chipping areas, you need to give the entire garage door a solid sanding to rough up the surface as much as possible. Paint bonds best to a slightly roughened surface, so trying to apply it over expanses of smooth factory coating will only leave you with a mess within a few months. Sand the door until there are no smooth spots you can feel by hand, and rent an orbital sander to make much quicker work of this Henderson garage repair step.

Pick the Right Paint

Finally, make sure you’re using a latex exterior paint because it’s the best paint for garage doors. The latex base will bond equally well on metal, wood, or composite materials. Oil paints are a good choice for wood, but they show brush marks and other small imperfections. Latex is easier to clean up and provides more reliable results in the end. Go for the best quality paint you can afford, and use a matching primer first, so you don’t have to repaint more often than every few years.