If you’re a homeowner, then I’m sure you’ll agree that the maintenance ‘to-do list’ never ceases to end.   

But keeping up with the upkeep of your property is crucial, especially if you’re thinking of selling.  

Regular and proper maintenance means you’re more likely to achieve the best possible price for your home and – of course – make it more appealing to prospective buyers.  

One area that can be overlooked is the garage door, which is often situated right at the front of the property for everyone to see.  

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to prepare and paint a garage door to achieve a perfect finish – and, as always, an important part of the process is making sure you’ve got the right paint! 

Garage doors come in many different materials including wood, metal or plastic. So, you’ll need to do your homework and work out which paint is best suited for the job by looking online.    

I have a metal garage door so I will be using Hammerite Garage Door Paint, which is available in a variety of colours. This brand is a tough, durable, high gloss paint for metal doors which is specifically formulated to reduce runs when painting vertical surfaces. It’s also highly resistant to flaking and discolouration to give an all-round better finish.  

Handily, Hammerite Garage Door Paint comes in a metal tin which is great for storage – should you have any leftover you can keep this in your shed for touch ups. However, if you should use it all in one go then the completely empty can is easy to recycle.   

Let’s get started!  

• 1x 750ml tin of Hammerite Garage Door Paint  
• Hard bristle hand brush 
• 180 grade sandpaper (medium) 
• 2-inch natural bristle paintbrush 
• Wire brush 
• Safety googles, mask and gloves  

The first and most important tip for painting a metal garage door is quite simple: it’s all about preparation! Don’t forget to put on your safety googles and face mask.  

Over the years a garage door will begin to look very tired. It’s may have had a few coats of paint and, if the incorrect paint was used, it will have started to flake away and become discoloured. The discolouration is usually caused by the weather, especially the sunlight.  

Use your hand bristle brush to get all the dirt and cobwebs off the garage door. Garage doors are the perfect haven for spiders so expect to find a lot of cobwebs. Be sure to remove all the cobwebs, otherwise when you paint, they’ll get mixed in. This would leave a rough finish on the paint, which will cause flaking in the months ahead.  

The next step is to create good surface to apply the new Hammerite Garage Door Paint. Remove any flaking paint using a wire brush. Pay particular attention to the edges to ensure you’ve caught all the loose paint.   

The final part of preparation is to sand the entire garage door using a 180-grade sandpaper. When sanding the garage, pay particular attention to those areas where paint has flaked to make sure it is as smooth as possible.  

Time to start painting and renovating! You will need a 750ml metal tin of Hammerite Garage Door Paint, which is enough to paint a standard size garage door. I recommend using a 2-inch natural bristle brush.  

Starting at the top of the garage start painting using even strokes. If the garage door has a textured finish, work the paint in and cover it completely. A tip for the lower half is to open the garage door a little bit, making it a lot easier to paint without having to kneel.  

Once the painting is complete, depending on the colour, you may need a second coat. If it does require a second coat, I advise you to wait 24 hours before painting. However, Hammerite Garage Door paint normally covers in one coat.  

Well done!  

You have now renovated and painted a garage door and if you have followed the above steps, it will keep its perfect look for years to come.

Blog by Nigel Higgins – DIY Daddy

Check out how to prepare your guttering for the winer here.