How to Paint A Steel Garage Door to Look Like Wood Grain Stained Wood?
Garage doors are usually overlooked as not so cared as other areas of a house. People usually paint the garage door in metallic colors that start looking dull and boring soon. However, you can paint it with a wooden color of paint to make it look like a wooden door.
So why not create a faux wood grain finish for your garage door and make it appear awesome to your guests and visitors. You can get the paint done by professionals, or you can choose to do it yourself. It is easy and quite common for people to hire professional painters to paint a door. Here are the steps to paint a steel garage door in wood grain stained finish.
Pressure-wash the door
As a garage door is outside the house, it attracts plenty of dust and dirt all the time. Moreover, the dust and dirt also come with your car when it enters the garage. Therefore, it becomes essential to wash the garage door before you start to paint it.
You can use a garden hose with a pressure nozzle to wash the door. If you have accumulated dust on the door that you have not cleaned for months, you should use rag cloth soaked in denatured alcohol to wipe clean the door.
Prep Work
Whether you have a wooden door or metal door, you must go with some prep work to prepare the surface for the paint. Undergoing the prep work also enables you to remove any imperfections that can make the paintwork appear lousy.
If there are scraps of old paint, you should use a scraper tool to remove the scrapes. There might be some dots or imperfections on the door that needs to be fixed. It is not necessary for everyone, as all doors don’t have scraps of old worn paint.
After the removal of scapes, you can use sandpaper or sanding machine to sand the surface of your door. However, you should sand the door lightly with fine grade sandpaper to allow better adhesion of paint.
Choose a base color for your door
To choose a base color for your door, you can visit a paint store and check out the various wood stain shades available. You can see which shade you like that suits best on your garage door. A gel stain is always better than a standard stain as the gel is less likely to drip. Moreover, you should avoid the stain paints with a high gloss finish as matte finish looks better on garage doors.
Test the stain on a small area
Before you start painting the garage door, you should test the stain on a small area to have an idea of how it looks after drying. If you have a metal door, it is best to test the stain on a small metal piece or door trim and allow it to dry for a few hours. After the paint dries, you can see whether it looks good or not. If you are not satisfied with the final result, you can try another stain, but if it looks well, you can choose the stain to paint your garage door.
Paint a base coat
Depending on the final shade you want and the present color of your door, it might be essential to go for a base coat. However, the surface of your door should be completely dry before you start with the base coat. You can use cardboard, drop cloth or tarp to protect the area around the door and the threshold from any possible spills and drips.
Start painting
You should start with a base coat of wood tone. To keep the door at your desired height when painting, use a prop, such as a broom handle or step stool. Start with your door’s edges and recessed areas. Use a 2-inch brush as you may find it easier to drag the brush into the crevices of your frame, and then use the roller for the smooth, elevated door areas.
Once you have finished rolling on the base coat at each of your garage’s four doors, look for any places you may have overlooked. Take a step back to look at the work that you do! Do not worry if you find some differences in the base coat; this will add to the wood feel. If you see some visible white spots, you need to cover them with your roller.
Wait for the base coat to dry
You need to wait for a few hours or a day in the summer season for the base coat to dry completely. However, in the winters or rainy season, you may need to wait for 48 hours to let the base coat dry before beginning to apply the wood grain finish coat. At this stage, your garage door is going to look bad. You might even get a few phone calls about choosing your door color. Stay cool, and ask them to come and check it after two days.
Applying the wood grain finish coat
Use a painter’s mitt to paint the final wood grain finish. You should get the mitt a bit damp before dipping in the paint. Start with the flat surface and after that, move to the raised panels.
After covering the entire surface of the door, you can use long horizontal strokes to create the final wood grain finish. If you leave some pooling around the edges or in eh crevices, you can use the 2-inch brush to cover these areas with light strokes.
Final Words
Now, as you know the steps to paint your garage door in grain stained wooden finish, you can use them to paint your door. However, homeowners who are not confident enough to do it themselves can always hire professionals like house painters Alexandria to get the job done with high quality. Whether you go DIY or hire professional painters, you should aim to paint your garage door with the best wood grain stain finish.