Repainting galvanized steel garage door

[A.Clews]

My south-facing galvanized steel garage door was last painted (red) about 18 years ago, but now it has faded to pink and is peeling in several places to expose the bare galvanised surface. In other words it's long overdue a repaint.

I'm thinking of repainting it with Hammerite, a nice dark green colour. I'll do the usual preparation (sanding/wire-brushing/washing), but does anyone know if Hammerite will be OK to paint over the old (non-Hammerite) red paint, or will I need to strip the whole door down to the galvanised surface (a daunting thought)?

[Me Here]

Strip it using a good paint stripper. Clean thoroughly and prime with a good galv friendly primer. Paint with whatever gloss paint you like. Cheaper than *trying* to find out with Hammerite (Which always looks shyte anyway)

[Bruce]

Hammerite is IMHO unsuitable for painting such a large area owing to the great difficulty of maintaining a wet edge. It dries too quickly.

[Mike P the 1st]

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:15:42 +0000 (UTC), [e-mail] gently dipped his quill in the best Quink that money could buy:

Use a heat gun, prime and finish with Dulux Metal Shield

Mike P the 1st

[Andrew Gabriel]

Not done anything like this, but I would be careful not to go through the galvanizing with sanding or wire brush, or you might find rust staining starts coming through the new paint after a while.

[A.Clews]

Thus spake Andrew Gabriel ( [e-mail]) unto the assembled multitudes:

Many thanks to all for their replies. I take your point about damaging the galvanizing, so will probably go down the route of using paint stripper and then gentle sanding to provide a key.

[Andy Dingley]

I wouldn't even go that far - just strip. Weathered galvanising is a good painting surface all on its own.

Use a good quality zinc-rich primer (often aerosols) to repair damage.

[A.Clews]

Thus spake Andy Dingley ( [e-mail]) unto the assembled multitudes:

Thanks for the tip.