Hello all,
I need to paint my overhead garage door and was wondering what is the best type of paint to use?
It is a metal door with some spots of light rust. I will be using a brush or roller. It is several years old
with only the factory primer on it. Thanks for any advice on this.
-Jay
Replies
Hard to believe you haven't gotten a response from someone on this. The bump will put it back toward the top of the list.
The only experience I have with exterior metal finishes is on my polebarn. When it needed painting everyone I talked to locally recommend a SW product, forgotten the exact name, but it is some sort of marine finish. Actually has "marine" in the product name, I think. Real pricey unless you can get someone with a commercial account to purchase it for you.
On the forum, I have seen people recommend paints with high Kynar content, but I can't give you any info on that.
Any exterior paint that can go on metal will do. Especially since the factory primer has been exposed for so long, it would be wise to use a "liquid sandpaper" first, and maybe a regular primer after that.
The hard part is getting a good bond to "factory primer", since it's not really primer but really just to protect the metal until its painted.
There are pretty big differences in paint- especially for metals.
Rust-Oleum is a fine paint, and usually hard to beat ... but the cured paint is rather soft and easily scratches, or has grit rubbed into it. Their primers, though, are hard to beat.
The preferred method is spraying, and I recommend you use a urethane paint from an auto-body shop paint house. The stuff is expensive, but will give you a very tough finish. The paint shop can, and will, match the sheen you want as well as the color.
As my recent foray into spray painting has taught me, you almost need to follow "hazmat" rules and tent off the area- that overspray goes an amazing distance. The tent would also let the paint dry without dust and bugs landing on it. It's beat to let the paint dry in the horizontal position.
Roller? A very fine nap 4" roller can work well. Just don't try to squeeze more paint out of the roller, or you'll have lines.
You can do a damn good job with a foam roller, if you take your time about it.
You might have better results if you take the door down and paint each section separately, laying flat. It also makes it possible to get a good coat on the edges. I agree with the other poster, shooting this will give you a better job and a urethane paint is going to be the toughest. I would shoot on an etching primer first. They will have that at the auto paint store too. Buy a real respirator.