Paint a door or a window

A door takes a beating every day, so it gets PRO in Semi-Gloss. It's paint and primer in one, it wipes clean, and one gallon does about three doors, both sides, two coats.

What you need

PRO Paint and Primer in Semi-Gloss, in your color. A 2 inch angled synthetic brush. A small 3/8 inch roller. Sandpaper in 120 and 220 grit. Spackle, a damp rag, painter's tape, drop cloth.

Built before 1978

Houses from before 1978 can hide lead paint under the top coats. Check before you sand or scrape anything. EPA publishes lead-safe steps for people doing the work themselves.

Take it down

Pull the hardware. If the door lifts off its hinges, lay it flat on two sawhorses and do one side at a time. Flat cuts down on runs.

Clean and sand

Wash off grease and hand marks with water and a little dish soap. Rinse. Let it dry. Scrape anything loose, fill dents with spackle, then sand the whole face with 120 grit. Old gloss needs a full scuff or new paint won't grab. Wipe the dust.

Bare wood

PRO primes as it paints on most bare wood and patches. Cedar, redwood and knotty pine are the exception. They need a stain-blocking primer first, or brown stain bleeds through light colors. Ask us which one.

Paint in order

Top to bottom. On a panel door you start with the sunken panels, move to the strip down the middle, then the cross rails, and you finish on the two long outside boards, brushing edges and grooves and rolling the flat faces, then brushing those out lightly while they're wet so the texture matches everywhere.

Two coats

At about 77F, PRO is dry to touch in an hour. Second coat after 2 to 4 hours. Cool or damp rooms take longer. A light pass with 220 grit in between leaves a smoother finish. Paint between 50F and 90F.

Let it cure

Give it at least 24 hours before heavy use, and longer before you close it tight against the frame. Don't wash or clean it for four weeks.

Front door, outside

Pick a dry day between 50F and 90F with no rain due for 48 hours, and start in the morning so the paint is dry before the evening dew. Leave the door open or wedged until it's dry to the touch, so it doesn't stick to the weatherstripping. A factory-primed steel door takes PRO after a light scuff and a wipe. Bare steel and rust spots need a rust-inhibiting primer first. Wood doors follow the steps above.

Windows

This part is for wooden sash and trim. Check the window maker's care instructions first. Tape the glass. Paint the sash, then the frame, and the sill last. Keep paint off the tracks and the weatherstripping, and let everything dry before you close the window.

Delivered

Tell us your color and how many doors. We mix PRO Semi-Gloss in Brooklyn and bring it to you, $15 per order across New York and New Jersey, free over $150.