How to Paint Steel Garage Doors

Learn How to Paint Steel Garage Doors Right to Return them to their Original Beauty

By Mark J. Donovan




First clean the door thoroughly, preferably using a pressure washer set to a low pressure setting. Also make sure to use a low phosphate soapy water solution or a house siding cleaner. Alternatively you can use a bucket of warm soapy water or house siding solution, a large rag, and some elbow grease. However, I highly recommend going with the pressure washer approach! Make sure to rinse the garage door well after cleaning it and then let it fully dry.

Next, using fine sand paper, lightly sand the garage door panels to remove any scratches that don’t go through to the bare metal substrate.

After sanding the door panels make sure to dust them off thoroughly with a large dry rag. If your steel garage door has a baked on finish then use a powdered cleaning agent with water and a soft bristle brush to rough up the surface of the garage door panels. This will enable the paint to better adhere to the baked on finished surface. After using the cleaning agent and water, again rinse the steel garage door thoroughly and allow it to fully dry.

Now you’re ready to begin the fun part. You’ll first need to apply a primer to the areas on the steel garage door panels where scratches or dings penetrated down to the bare metal substrate. This will help to prevent these areas from rusting or corroding. After applying the primer allow it time to fully dry.

Finally, paint the steel garage door panels with exterior grade latex house paint. You can use a roller to quickly apply paint to the garage door, but then immediately follow behind with a paint brush to work the paint into the panel surfaces and corners.

How to paint steel garage doors.

Also, make sure to paint only one garage door panel at a time. In addition, you’ll need to raise the door up a bit to get to the seams in between the garage door panels. Allow the paint to fully dry before closing the garage doors. Lastly, make sure to use a drop cloth underneath the garage door so that you don’t drip paint on the garage floor or driveway.


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