How To Paint Your Garage Door: Techniques

After choosing a good type of paint for your garage door and getting everything prepared, it’s time to get painting!

There are three main techniques for applying a good coat of paint: brushing, rolling or spraying.

Brushing

Pros: uses very little equipment, easy to set up and clean up.

Cons: takes practice to apply an even coat without streaking or brush marks. Often takes more than one coat of paint to fully cover.

Tips: Choose a good quality (not the cheapest!) brush at least 4” wide and begin from the top of the door, working across and downward. Keep the brush only moderately full of paint to prevent drips and keep strokes even and about the same length to allow brush marks to melt out. Don’t go back over places you’ve already painted since the paint flashes over (dries on the surface) fairly quickly and if you disturb it you’ll have unsightly streaks and divots in your finished coat.

Rolling

Pros: easy set up and clean up, applies paint rapidly.

Cons: difficult to even cover panels, leaves a textured surface that usually needs to be brushed out. This is probably the least successful way of painting a garage door, though it’s the quickest overall.

Tips: use medium nap roller cover to hold a lot of paint without leaving a lot of texture. A 6’ paint stick is invaluable to working quickly and efficiently. Keep the roller full of paint rather than letting it run dry and apply in long vertical rows slightly overlapping. Do two rows at a time and quickly brush out before the paint has a chance to flash over if you don’t want the roller texture look. Use the brush to make sure paint has evenly coated the corners and inner crevices of the panels.

Spraying

Pros: produces the most professional results.

Cons: equipment can be finicky and set up takes a while since everything around the door needs to be carefully covered to protect from overspray.

Tips: work quickly and evenly in long sweeps, angling the sprayer downward, straight on and upward at each panel to ensure all angles are evenly covered. Don’t gild the lily: when the paint covers, let it dry before doing more or you can very quickly add too much and end up with a drippy mess!

(Watch this great tutorial from a professional painter for good tips on spraying your garage door.)

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About the Author: Lauren Turner is a former construction contractor turned wife and mother of two (so far). Her daily collection of duties and pleasures range from diaper duty to researching experimental concrete surfaces and everything in between. She is delighted to discover there is a place for her blogging skills and hopes her own garage benefits from all she learns.

About Academy Overhead Door: We specialize in complete residential overhead door repair that Colorado Springs residents can't trust. We also offer opener repair on all major brands and models. Our trained technicians have experience and the skill to install/repair your complete overhead garage doors. Academy Overhead Door: providing fast overhead door repair and installation today!
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