Painting Door Issues

Hi All,

I am painting a (cheap) prehung primed door I bought from Home Depot with a semigloss paint. I used Behr at first that I had leftover from another project. It had a tiny bit of Floetrol in it to allow me a little more work time. The gloss was blotchy and uneven.

So then I tried some Valspar paint (no Floetrol) but the color wasn't quite right.

So, my final try was Glidden (no Floetrol again). I lightly sanded before painting. The color is perfect but the sheen is still uneven and it looks like the underlying paint is raising up and making it look really grainy.

Should I strip this mess off with a chemical stripper and start over? I admit I am a dumbshit when it comes to painting so I really would like to know what to do about this. Any help appreciated.

TIA, James

Reply to
James Harvey
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These are the things I can think of that would affect sheen...

  1. Not enough mixing of the paint. Paint - other than glossy - contains flatting material and it needs to be evenly distributed.
  2. Uneven application. The sheen changes as the paint dries/cures; the final sheen doesn't appear until considerable time, a couple of weeks. Until then, it will vary depending on the thickness of the paint film as it is drying differentially; if appled evenly to a prepared surface, it will appear much the same; if thicker here, thinner there, the sheen will be irregular.
  3. Improper surface preparation such that some areas are more absorbent than others. With a pre-primed door, that is unlikely.

You said, "it looks like the underlying paint is raising up and making it look really grainy." Hard to determine what you really mean but if you used a brush either #1 and/or #2 could apply and what you characterize as grain is actually brush marks.

Reply to
dadiOH

I've had good results using paint that has been around for quite a long time, but one has to wonder, how old was this paint? And you mixed it up really well?

It had a tiny bit of Floetrol in it to allow me a little more work

You did use two coats, right? That Behr label does say it can be used as it's own primer, right? If it was the gloss that was the issue, I wonder if there were differences in the surface sanding finish of the new door?

I would have put on another coat of the Behr.

I'm using Behr Ultra Enamel Satin right now. It's a little weird. When you roll it on, at first it has a very rough, orange peel like look to it, almost like it's sticking in spots and avoiding other spots. I've never noticed that with a paint before. But as you conintue to roll it as it's starting to dry, it evens out and leaves an excellent finish.

Also, Behr interior paint was rated very high, right up there with Benjamin Moore, by Consumer Reports, so I doubt the paint is the problem.

Reply to
trader4

On Wed, 9 Oct 2013 07:21:50 -0500, dadiOH wrote (in article ):

Thanks. The curing time and uneven application seems to be the factors here. I had forgotten you can't really judge it until it cures.

Reply to
James Harvey

On Wed, 9 Oct 2013 12:11:22 -0500, Oren wrote (in article ):

Thanks. Looks like there were many issues I hadn't condidered.

Reply to
James Harvey

On Wed, 9 Oct 2013 18:35:20 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net wrote (in article ):

Thank you!

Reply to
James Harvey

If the door has a 'built-in' grain to look more like wood, no idea what to do. If the door is relatively flat surfaces; this is what I would do...

Get a sheet of 300-400 grain wt 'n' dry, flat plastic block [do NOT use soft pad], and a couple of bottles of cheap Walmart Glass Cleaner, or you can use Jet-Dri [costs more]

lay the door down flat, sand gently using the liquid to keep a slurry going, don't go through the finish if possible [not a catastrophe, but more like a set back] Wipe/clean the surface free of muck. Let dry. Vacuum maybe, but definitely tack-rag! Then pour your finish into a throw away container, use new brush, and flow the paint on. Do NOT work and rework the paint, just let it go on. Let it cure 24 to 48 hours. Repeat the wet 'n' dry sanding procedure to get out little 'stipples' and really flatten the surface. Dry and TACK RAG IT AGAIN! Using new container and new brush [should be new, but not absolutely necessary] and flow on your final coating.

Doing this will make the final results look like a formica surface FLAT! Over time if there is wood underneath, the wood grain will reassert itself and you'll have a great looking wood grain surface.

Reply to
RobertMacy

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