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Tips on painting a peeling garage door?

16 years ago

The paint on our wood/particle board garage door is cracking around the edges of the panels, and in some areas the paint seems to be lifting off the door. Nothing has peeled off yet but between the cracks and the loose paint I know I have some work ahead of me. I've gotten so many great tips about painting walls and cabinets here I was hoping someone might be able to give me some tips on dealing with my door too!

I've scrubbed with Dirtex. From what little I know, I'm thinking I need:

1. sand loose areas off (100 grit?)

2. caulk edges with exterior caulk

3. prime (Zinnser water based primer)

4. paint (exterior water based)

Did I miss anything? I appreciate any help/suggestions!

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Comments (3)

yanalg
16 years ago
i am about to paint a garage door with the same problems. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Faron79
16 years ago
Hey Tsh,
Is there any wood on the backside of the loose-paint pieces?
* If it's only PAINT-skin coming off, that's "good" in a sense! Otherwise you may spend some time glueing stuff back down, &/or using some wood-filler to smooth things off.
* Just lightly scrape the loose paint back to well-adhered areas.
* Your sanding will need to start in the 100-grit area like you stated, finishing with about a 220 "finish-pass".
* Remove all dust.
* If you've had to do any putty-filling/sanding, brush a thin coat of primer on these, so as not to leave a "paint-ridge". Then prime everything with a good full coat.
* As you state, 2 coats of a good latex!

>>> If you can...try to get some primer & paint on those door edges too. Anything to seal off the ends/tops/bottoms of sections will help!!
>>> Try to keep these section-edges apart as much as you can! When closed, there's a lot of pressure on these edges. It'll be some time b4 paint is cured hard enough to not come off.

Faron
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I recommend BM Ironclad Latex Wood and Metal Enamel for garage doors. After proper preparation, two coats and your garage door is looking beautiful.

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