I realised that of all the jobs I've done over the years, I've never painted a front door. It shouldn't be difficult, of course, but I find that paint always takes a lot longer than the quoted time to dry properly, and front doors need to be closed at some stage or another, well within that time frame. So is there a way to get around this, or do you just hope it doesn't stick to the frame permanently when it's closed overnight?
washing up liquid
Build a porch, so you have two front doors.
Alternatively, you can use polythene sheet to stop the paint sticking.
I used plumbers' PTFE tape.
Fit a UPVC door ;)
I closed mine enough so it looked closed from the outside, but wasn't quite touching, then fixed it with a big screw between the door and the jamb on the latch side.
Then put a pile of saucepans balanced against the inside.
Owain
Paint it nice and early on a good drying day. Wedge it open against the security chain. At night, run parcel tape around the doorframe just in case parts are still sticky, then close the door against the parceltape for the night.
Nick
Painted ours last week. Painted at lunchtime, left open until evening. No problem when we closed it.
In message , Bob Eager writes
How about when you opened it again?
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I have a very heavy machine which I drove into position behind the door.
Bill
Well any door has this problem and although you will never get them to not stick at al, the most successful method I've seen is a kind of paper that appears greasy to the touch in the frame where the door fits. I'm sure this stuff has a name but I have no idea what it is!
It feels rather like the stuff that label backings are made from but on both sides. Brian
That will cost yer though... Brian
Erm, I do hope you jest. One of the main issues with fresh paint when I was young was that various pets seemed to like to leave their fur/hair all over it. Brian
That sounds a bit more economic.
Brian
An identical front door kept in reserve that can be painted flat and left to dry for weeks. (it's the way the door of Number 10 Downing Street is done)
Or live in a pikey free area, leave the door open and tape plastic sheeting over the opening to keep wildlife out.
I always use clingfilm for things like that. Hasn't let me down yet.
It's roughly how I solved the problem:
I got a tatty old spare door off Freecycle and fastened it into the door frame with big FO screws (from the inside).
Why go to that trouble?
Sheet of weather resistant ply, big enough to span over onto the frame,
2 or 3 timber battens again long enough to span over onto the frame. Then threaded rod and nuts to tightly sandwich the frame between ply and timber. All assuming you have another means of exit.A door is much easier to work on and paint, laid flat on trestles.
I spake not in jest but in truth. Not sure where pets came into it (I had none) but not sure which is harder - getting cat fur out of emulsion paint, or getting emulsion paint out of cat's fur.
Owain
I'm thinking double-sided tape with the backing left on might be the stuff then. I can feel an experiment coming on.
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