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[fthunt]

Painters I've had left the door up and painted around the hardware.

Don't paint the hinges if they don't need it - slow to dry and too many layers of paint makes them peel terribly with use. (with repeated open - close motion)

different color paint - then you have to - I guess.

[Kitlynn]

Ours was just painted a navy blue and it was left hanging. The painter used a roller and a brush. It was painted eight years ago and still looks like it was just painted.

[AuntG]

I looked into wood graining ours and thought it was too expensive for just a basic door. A painter painted ours, covering a cranberry color with deep green. Cost only $75 and is fine by my standards (we're not fussy people by any means).

[jannabelle1]

Prime it! We had a white steel door installed a few years ago. Our HOA requires brown doors, so I bought a can of the paint I needed. Big mistake because the door would not hold the paint. As soon as I started painting and saw what was happening, I went back out and bought a primer....that worked although I think it took two coats of paint for better coverage.

[Sweetbay magnolia]

I think, @jannabelle1 , that is why the door paint is peeling now.  It was not prepped correctly.  

[ceekay]

@Sweetbay magnolia - about four years ago I painted a wooden exterior door.  It had peeled and the finish on the panels was all alligatored.  I scraped and sanded and then used a self leveling primer.  I fiddled around with primer and sanding and spackle for a while until the finish looked fairly smooth.  Then I painted it and it turned out pretty well.  It is under cover at the back of our carport so not as exposed as a front door would be, but has held up really well.  I was looking at it the other day and thinking unless you knew how bad it looked before you would never know.  It still looks like a 52 year old door just not a beat up 52 year old door. Good luck!

[Drythe]

@Sweetbay magnolia 

I have repainted several steel doors.

Removed from hinges, sanded, use rust killer if you have peeling, (buy it from hardware store - Clear liquid that brushes on.

Then rust-o-lium or the like, and paint.  I used rust-o-lium high gloss in a can.

If you didn’t have peeling the rust rust killer step could be skipped.

These are a lot of steps, however if you have rust, it is the only way to make sure it doesn't return. I learned the hard way...

As to the dogs, I sent them to grandpas for a few days.

😕😡🙁

[Lilysmom1]

@Sweetbay magnolia , borrow a child's gate and insert it in the doorway to keep the dog away from the paint.  Every time we get a new puppy we use one in the kitchen doorway.  S

[Mimi 1883]

@Sweetbay magnolia - My husband repainted our steel front door and removed it (the preferred method,) sanded, and painted using both a brush and roller. 

To keep your dog inside, you could rig a piece of lattice on the inside creating a barrier. 

You could also search on YouTube, "Repainting a steel door" - a lot of videos on the subject.

[Sweetbay magnolia]

Oh, @Lilysmom1 , excellent, thank you!  Never even ocurred to me and this has been the biggest source of consternation over the door painting project!!!