Our front door entrance was missing something. It was boring and tired, waiting to be rescued. And in just one Saturday afternoon, this average homeowner turned her front entrance from Blah to Bam! with an exterior door makeover using Behr Shipwreck Ultra Exterior Semi-Gloss enamel.
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Backstory
I had been kicking around the idea of painting our front door for awhile now (ok, ok, thinking about it for 2-3 years). Originally we wanted to buy a new front door since the style didn’t match the Craftsman style architecture of our home. I even researched the 5 factors to consider when buying a new front door in preparation to buy.
But our front door is a solid, heavy, high-quality wood door. Replacing it with the same quality door is a bit too much for our single-income family. So the door stays.
And this well-weathered door deserved some love. The varnish and stain had started flaking off, and the door was dried out from the effects of the hot afternoon summer sun and harsh New England weathers.
I needed to get my butt into gear and do something about it.
While waiting for my husband to do research on Behr’s deck stains at Home Depot, I strolled over to the colorful paint color display. I picked out just a few (aka 10) color chips in blues and greens, and taped them to the door when I got home.
And over the next 2 days while we examined the colors in different light, we narrowed it down to two colors: Behr Shipwreck and Deep Breath.
Eventually we decided on Behr Shipwreck. Here’s a closer pic – it’s the bottom one.
Upon return to Home Depot for more Behr deck paint a few days later, I decided to grab a gallon to paint the door. I’m at the store already, so why not pick up a gallon?
Behr Paint
I’m the average homeowner – far from any sort of expert in paint. And to be completely honest, I don’t quite understand why there are so many different kinds of paint in the aisle. What do they all do differently? Here’s a pic of just the exterior paints available from Behr.
Holy smokes! That’s a lot of paint. Thank God for cell phones and internet so that I can research which type of Behr paint to buy.
(BTW, this is not a sponsored post. I’m not that important enough in the blogging sphere to be noticed by such a large home improvement company…. at least not yet ?)
Behr Ultra Exterior Semi-Gloss
After some research (aka google “Behr paint for exterior doors”) while standing in the Home Depot aisle, I find the best option is Behr’s Ultra Exterior Semi-Gloss Enamel.
According to Behr’s website (and I quote):
“For a perfect pop of color that will give your home some serious curb appeal, choose BEHR ULTRA Exterior Semi-Gloss Enamel. This radiant sheen will create a sleek appearance on your home’s exterior accents, and is ideal for trim, shutters and doors, including garage doors, as well as windows and outdoor furniture.”
Hmmm.. Intriguing. Sounds like I’m headed in the right direction. I read on…
“It is formulated to withstand wear, and will also resist moisture, fading and stains.”
Winner winner, chicken dinner! Behr, now you’re talking my language!
I grabbed a gallon of Behr Shipwreck in Ultra Semi-Gloss Enamel and headed home, ready to transform my boring front entrance!
How to Prep an Front Door for Painting with Behr Shipwreck Ultra Exterior Semi-Gloss
High on excitement, I’m ready to tackle this home improvement project. And then I get home and realize the next step.
The worst step in the whole painting process. The prep.
Why does the prep take so long???? UGH! When we bought this house and started working on it, honestly, I rushed through prepping. I just want to get to the good stuff and paint with a new, beautiful color!
But I’ve learned my lesson. You just can’t rush prepping. You WILL regret it (trust me).
For our exterior door (and probably yours too), the prepping required these series of steps:
Wash
Using just a scrub brush dampened with a mixture of hot water and dishwashing soap, I cleaned the door to cut through dirt. And a significant amount of old stain washed right off! Yikes! This proved to me that painting our exterior door was long overdue.
Remove Door
Admittedly, you could take the door off its hinges and then wash it, but we hadn’t quite decided which paint color we were going with (Ok, ok maybe not “we” but “me”. I’m the indecisive one. My husband had picked Shipwreck days ago). So one last comparison…and we went with Shipwreck.
We removed the door and placed on two sawhorses sitting on top of a drop cloth in the middle of our driveway. Since we weren’t painting the interior side of the door, I didn’t want to get marks on it, so I folded a towel between the door and sawhorses.
Remove Hardware
Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of our hardware, but it will do for now. I stored each lock with screwed into individual sandwich bags to that I wouldn’t get confused on what goes where. I even took a few pictures of the assembly to help with reinstalling. We learned a hard lesson to take pics before disassembling when we installed our garbage disposal last year…..
Then I did a quick clean with just warm water and dishwashing soap to remove fingerprint buildup and grime, polished, and set aside.
Tape
Using painter’s tape, I taped the entire glass fan-lite window as well as the lock edge of the door. Why not both door edges? Since we were only painting the exterior door, it’s advised that hinge edge should match the color of the interior door, the lock edge match the side of the door that opens into the room.
Fill Holes and Cracks
Examine the door for any holes or cracks and fill with a sandable, paintable filler. I previously tackled the hairline cracks on the the door using wood putty in 4 easy steps.
Sand Until Smooth
Using a variety of tools – our orbital sander, our neighbor’s detail sander (which is now on my Christmas list), sand sponges/blocks and just sand paper wrapped around my fingers – I sanded down the door until the majority of the stain was gone.
I didn’t get all the stain removed. And even though Behr Ultra notes “stain-blocking” I was still concerned about the remaining stain showing through.
But after sanding for about 2 hours, I was just done.
In hindsight, my husband was right. He told me I was going well above and beyond, and that 1 hour into the sanding that it was enough and the paint would cover just fine. I should have listened to my husband and saved an hour. Behr’s Shipwreck Ultra Exterior paint had amazing coverage over the stain with the first coat.
Dust
Sanding produced a TON of dust. First I sucked up dust with a ShopVac. Then using old (but clean) cloths – actually old baby receiving blankets that we don’t need anymore – I wiped off all the dust off the door.
WHEW! That was a lot of prepping (Ok, so I sanded a bit longer than I had to….) But as you will see in the “After” pics, it was so worth it!)
Now finally, the FUN! Painting.
So I have to say, that earlier this week we were working on re-doing our deck (note – future post in the works!) and I was so discouraged with how long it took to paint the deck spindles with a brush. It.took.forever. Well, my husband overheard me complaining and 2 days later a paint sprayer was delivered to our front door!
I tried it out on the door and it was AMAZING! It took a fraction of the time to paint the door. No brush strokes. All I needed to do with add ½ cup of water to the gallon of paint, pour into the sprayer container (that rhymes LOL!) and pull the trigger!
Why didn’t we buy a paint sprayer sooner!?!?!
Once we figured out the correct settings, I applied the paint in a sweeping motion. The key to using a paint sprayer is like using a can of spray paint – you have to keep moving!
I could feel the wood on the door soaking up the paint, like lotion on dry skin, saying “I’m pretty again!”
The first coat went on super easy and covered well. It was an amazing thick coat. It went on so well and thick that I second-guessed putting on another coat. Just in case, I did apply a second coat a few hours later. But honestly, I don’t think I needed to.
After the second coat dried, we re-attached the clean hardware and re-installed!
So far I am not disappointed. Application was easy, great thick coverage, and hides old stains and blemishes quite well. I’m hopeful that the paint will hold up well in the our harsh New England winter and hot afternoon summer sun that hits our front entrance.
Here’s before….
After! I think our dog Dulce approves…
Now I’m loving my front entrance. What a difference! I love this Behr Shipwreck color. It was the splash of gorgeous color we needed to bring our door our from the recess, boost curb appeal and make our front entrance more welcoming.
What’s Next?
But as homeowners, our work is never done right? You make a part of the house look beautiful, and it triggers yet another home improvement project, right?
So what’s next on the list? Cleaning up the brick stairs. And buying a new screen/storm door. Our current screen door is a traditional pop-in/ pop-out screen and storm door. But here’s the problem. The part that hold in the screen (or storm door) broke and we can’t get replacement parts. UGH! So it’s time to buy a new one. Any suggestions?
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