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Thoughts on faux painted wood garage doors...

15 years ago

I'm soo sick of the drab look of plain metal garage doors. After viewing some faux painted doors on the web, I think it would look great to match my garage doors to my wood front entry door (red mahogany). Only issue I see is that my neighborhood is a sea of plain 1 color cookie-cutter brick homes (trim, siding, garage) or if the garage is painted it typically is the trim color (when they have more than a single color).

Thinking this would look good for my house but I think it would stick out among the others since they are soo boring/plain. I'm sure if 4 or 5 other people did the same thing on my street it would look normal or at least blend in more but the odds of that happening are slim. ;)

What are your thoughts, am I crazy to do this and stick out from everyone since my home will look more elegant (if you like the idea) or will it just be considered cheap since no one else has the look. I would do it somewhat similar to what the pic below looks like.

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

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Comments (7)

IdaClaire
15 years ago
If it would look similar to that in the pic, I think it would stand out from the surrounding homes in a good way! I think it would add a very warm, rich look to the rest of your house. Well, at least it does to the house in the pic! :-)
tetrazzini
15 years ago
Would you paint it yourself? It's a cool idea, but it seems hard to do well, unless you happen to be good at faux painting.
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Thanks, Renovator. I edited that post to indicate that it's a duplicate. I've read everything on GW about Fatezzi, and am just hoping to find someone who might be able to help educate me on the differences/pros&cons of the 2 specific options I'm considering Fatezzi polymer versus Rhapsody composite). I've researched them, but I'm hoping some fellow GWers might have some add'l tips, experience, gems that they learned while comparing these two types of doors. Thanks again.
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Real wood doors when properly maintained will last for many years. If the door faces a strong sun, do not use a dark color stain or your real wood door or it will not last as long. Dark wood retains a lot of heat and is an enemy of natural wood. Some manufacturers will void the warranty if a dark color paint or stain is used. Composite faux wood garage doors like those offered by Clopay (www.clopay.com) and Ranch House Doors , are better products with high exposure to sun or in environments with high humidity. They can also handle dark colors. By the way, the Clopay and Ranch House Doors Elements Collection faux wood doors are not made of plastic. Plastic composite material like the material used in composite decking is heavy and not suitable for garage doors. Faux wood garage door prices varies so be sure to get price quotes from both companies.
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I notice that the house has very light trim, light painting on the house itself, a sort of medium mix on the brown gray stone and the medium brown wood door and very dark on the roof of the porch, but the garage only has the very light trim and lightish main color. Have you thought about bringing some medium colors over for the garage trim and then making the garage doors a similar medium brown? What material are the garage doors made of? I have had good luck with acrylic paints but you need to match the paint type with the material.
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Cheap doors aren't going to look good. IMHO, the only doors that really look good are custom made at considerable expense. That's why I hate the trend of sticking the garage out in front of an otherwise good-looking home. We pushed our garage back as far as we could to minimize it's appearance. I would like to some day build my own custom carriage doors, but it's low on my priority list. Wood doors can be made with insulation, and I'm sure they could be engineered to FL wind standards, but they would probably cost as much as the car behind them!
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mitchdesj
15 years ago
That picture looks really nice; the work seems impeccable.

Do you have a picture of your house so we could try to visualize the effect it would have ?
tinker_2006
15 years ago
There is a house in our development that has the faux painted garage doors, they look good. I seriously considered doing it as well.
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Original Author
15 years ago
Sorry, I don't have any pics of our house right now for you to visualize the effect. Being a graphic designer, I can easily tell how this would look and what color would look best to compliment the existing color scheme - not too worried about that.

I would be doing this myself and think it would be very easy to do but since I'm a perfectionist I'm sure it will take me 2x as long as someone that does this professionally. However, I wouldn't want to hire someone to do it because I doubt anyone would be willing to do it to my standards. ;)

My main concern was if this would make my house seem odd since no other homes have this style on such a prominent area to increase curb appeal.
johnmari
15 years ago
I think it would probably look fine. However... Faux painting is an art form that takes quite a bit of skill to do properly - bad faux looks REALLY REALLY bad (and most amateur faux is really bad, I blame HGTV for suggesting that anyone with a gallon of glaze and a few hours to blow can produce a professional-looking result). Grain painting that looks truly realistic is particularly tricky, it is neither quick nor easy to do well. I strongly suggest that either you take some classes and take a good long time to practice before tackling this, or meet with some professionals. I am sure you would be able to find someone "willing to do it to my standards" and talented enough to give you a good result.
iluv2faux
15 years ago
Faux garage doors are awesome. However any faux person or instruction that states that glaze is adequate for exterior use is ignorant. The garage will look great for 6 months then you will be kicking yourself for doing it at all. I get frustrated as a faux finish contractor and the artists that can make things look great but leave you in the lurch with a failed product. Or even lame faux books that have no business instructing. Exterior faux needs a marine sealant. If you think about it it makes perfect since. Good luck

Here is a link that might be useful: Rags2Rich's Faux Finishes

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