Being exposed to all sorts of Houston weather elements, your garage door can take a beating causing the paint to chip or peel off your garage door. For steel doors, if the paint was not applied correctly it can also peel. Steel doors are not as porous as wood, so the paint does not stick as well.
The good news is, even if you see chipped or peeling paint on your garage door it is not the end of the world. You don’t have to go and buy a new overhead door. You can fix and paint over the chipped or peeling paint and have a new looking garage door. Here is how to fix chipped paint on a garage door.
Consider Your Timing
Houston weather can be unpredictable, but it is something you need to consider when fixing your garage door’s paint job. Make sure the weather will be cooperative and not rain for at least 24 hours after the fix. Also, consider the fact you will also need to leave the garage door down for 24 hours after the fix as well.
Prepare Your Garage Door Surface
Of course, to put anything new on, you have to take off the old. Take a putty knife and scrape off all the chipped, bubbled and peeling paint off the garage door. After you have gotten all the chips and peels off, your going to want to sand down all of the areas you scraped off and roughen up the surface of the exposed garage door surface.
Clean Your Garage Door Surface
With 1/3 of a cup of trisodium phosphate added to a couple of gallons of water, wash the door down with a sponge and then rinse off the garage door with a garden hose. Alternatively, you can use your pressure washer on a low setting. Make sure you wash away all the dust and grime and let it thoroughly dry before moving on.
Prep and Protect
Depending on where the spot is on the garage door you need to paint, you might be painting close to your trim or siding. Be sure to put some painter’s tape over these areas. Also, you will want to put either a drop cloth or tarp over your driveway so you don’t leave any lasting drips or paint marks.
Prime your Garage Door
Before you apply paint to the garage door, first you will need to apply primer. Apply a coat of rust-inhibiting steel primer with zinc to the bare areas. Wait two hours for the primer to set or to dry to the point where it is only slightly tacky to the touch.
Paint Your Garage Door
Though it may be tempting to just start painting, testing to make sure your paint job is going to work is a smart step you should not skip. Using acrylic-latex paint, apply a small square of it to the door using a paintbrush. Wait two hours for it to dry. When the test area is dry, place a piece of masking tape over the paint and peel it off. If the paint comes off with the masking tape, it will not stick to the door and will chip or bubble after drying. There are a few reasons this happens. The air could be too humid, or the wrong temperature for the paint, or could be the wrong kind of paint. Assuming the paint did stick, apply a thin coat of acrylic-latex exterior paint to the steel door using a paint roller or sprayer. Let each coat dry before starting the next. After you have finished, make sure you do not open the garage door for at least 24 hours after completion to make sure all the paint has dried and cured for a perfect look.
Minimum Tools Needed for the Project:
- Metal putty knife
- Sandpaper, medium-grade
- Trisodium phosphate
- Rubber gloves
- Sponge
- Garden hose
- Cloth
- Rust-inhibiting steel primer
- Acrylic-latex exterior garage door paint
- Paintbrush
- Paint roller
- Paint tray
If your garage door has more damage than chipped or peeling paint, the Houston garage door repair experts at Spectrum Overhead Door LLC have been providing fast and reliable garage door repairs and installations for the Houston area since 2007. Call us at 281-748-9542 and book your free estimate today!
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