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Help with the color of a pre-finished fiberglass door

8 years ago

We had a new wood-look fiberglass door installed recently. It already has a finish on it to mimic a real wood-stained door, with darker color in the crevices, and it has a texture. It looks like real wood, until you get really, really close. Anyway, I could live with that except the color I chose looks a little too honey compared to the more reddish brick on our exterior.

My question is, can I put a coat of a more red-toned gel stain on top to subtly change the color but retain the wood-stained look, or do I just paint it with regular exterior paint in a color that works with the brick? I'd like to retain the appearance of a stained door, but all of the gel stain techniques I saw online involve starting with an unfinished fiberglass door.

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Comment (1)

paintguy22
8 years ago
Yes you can do that, but it may not be easy. The stain will bite better into an unfinished fiberglass surface so the color is easier to control. You will be putting the stain over a surface that is already stained and clear coated so there won't be any penetration...it will be like painting the stain over the existing finish, so there is a good chance it may not come out well. You can try and if it doesn't work out well, you can just wipe the stain off with a clean rag. If you decide to paint the door, again ideally you would want to start with an unfinished fiberglass door but if that is the route you decide to go you should sand the finish and apply a primer before topcoating.
eshobe thanked paintguy22
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