Best Way to Paint Interior Doors ?

[Magnusfarce]

I've nearly finished painting the interior of my home and I'm pretty happy with the results so far. I still have doors to do, however, and I am not sure how to paint them. These are standard, smooth wooden interior doors. If I roll them with a low nap brush, will I get a smooth finish? (A little orange peel is fine with me.)

The alternative is spraying. I have a small Graco spray rig with a 0.015" tip, so I can spray the doors instead. My other experiences with spraying is that it needs to be done outdoors because of the spray, but keeping bugs and stuff off a horizontal door for an hour or two while it dries is tough. Any advice on spraying?

BTW, whether I spray or roll, I plan on using Flowtrol flow enhancer on the assumption that this will help to get a smoother finish. Is this a good idea? Thanks in advance for any help.

- Magnusfarce

[m Ransley]

For a real good finish prime with Benjamin moore Enamel Underbody ,sand with 220, use ben moore satin impervo and penetrol, rent an HVLP and spray . Practice and dont spray horizontal. But underbody is apx 25 gal, impervo 40 gal. its worth it for high quality work

[EL]

Try the flat pads that are available. These, with an alkyd enamel and Flowtrol will give you a good result.

Boden

Magnusfarce wrote:

[Magnusfarce]

Is there any way to get good results with my sprayer and not have to rent another rig?

- Magnusfarce

[m Ransley]

Yes try the graco, use a new tip, thin with penetrol for oil,floetrol for latex, its more messy than hvlp. I guess you want to use latex because you say Floetrol. Experiment on cardboard first.

[Magnusfarce]

I just assumed semi-gloss latex, since I used latex (Valspar American Tradition from Lowes) elsewhere in the house. Is that a clearly bad choice compared to an oil based paint?

- Magnusfarce

[m Ransley]

Oil flows out , it takes longer to cure. Latex really cant, its the paints chemistry. But your finish is only as good as your surface. If you painted glass with latex with a brush , you will always have brush marks, spray it will be good, but the finish isnt as high a quality as oil. Only 2 paints can you brush on glass and have it look sprayed Ben Moore Satin impervo and P& L oil gloss. But they run 40 a gallon. And you need penetrol and a 20 - 30$ brush. I dont know what kind of doors but to benefit from spraying oil You need a great smooth surface 220 g on a sander equaling 320 by hand. Alot of work. But then the rest of the trim may look out of place. Oil will also look different if you are using latex for other trim. If nice panel doors sand with 180 and try latex. There are better latex paints BM, Sherwin williams, But to change now will be noticable, color and sheen level. Hope i didnt confuse the issue, thats why i dont like talking paint , I cant see it, It takes to long to write, and hard to describe

[Frogleg]

I know this wasn't your question, but consider the edges if colors on each side of the door are different. Open the door. The edge with the latch should match the color of the area it now resides in; the hinge edge should match the other area.