If you painted your front door..

[eb777888]

Did you just leave it open while it dries? Some recommendations say to let the paint dry for 24-48 hours. How in the world? What am I missing here? lol. Help!

eta: we do not have a storm door. 

[hermione]

Our painter painted on the hingers. We couldn't be without a door for two days.

[eb777888]

May 9, 2024 12:18:18 GMT -5 hermione said:

Our painter painted on the hingers. We couldn't be without a door for two days.

I'm painting it on the hinges even though H really wants to take it off. But was it dry enough to close after 12 hours of drying? I'm worried it's going to stick.

[hermione]

May 9, 2024 12:19:49 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

May 9, 2024 12:18:18 GMT -5 hermione said:

Our painter painted on the hingers. We couldn't be without a door for two days.

I'm painting it on the hinges even though H really wants to take it off. But was it dry enough to close after 12 hours of drying? I'm worried it's going to stick.

Ours didn't. Good luck!

[Susie]

I've never done it when I wasn't also replacing the door, giving me the luxury of doing it before hanging it. Clearly it can be done but I don't know!

I would definitely aim for a warm, sunny day, and to have the painting finished by whatever time of day the sun might hit it, to help it dry faster.

[ssmjlm]

I just started really early in the day and then we left it open until bedtime. It was fine.

[shauni27]

I am trying to remember, we for sure took it off the hinges and hung it back up again before nightfall and shut the door like we normally would. I think it had dried in the sun for a few hours and we felt that was good enough, lol.

I HATE our door now but painting it is the least of the problems, to replace it would be close to 5K if not more to get the door we want. Sob.

[followyourarrow]

We gave it about 2 hours to dry and called it good. It's been fine. Clearly we didn't google this before we did it lol.

[sonrisa]

Which surfaces are you painting? (outside or inside?) If only one broad side, I'd tape off the four sides that face the frame (top, bottom, hinge, bolt sides.) And paint your edges/corners first so they can dry first. If needed, touch those up on a different day.

[cereal K]

We painted on the hinges, but H didn't paint the inside edge that would go into the door frame. (We only painted the front, not the inside). We never had issues with sticking. Now, all the brush strokes are a different story! I'd love to get it repainted.

What color are you painting it?

[eb777888]

May 9, 2024 13:06:12 GMT -5 cereal K said:

We painted on the hinges, but H didn't paint the inside edge that would go into the door frame. (We only painted the front, not the inside). We never had issues with sticking. Now, all the brush strokes are a different story! I'd love to get it repainted.

What color are you painting it?

I just picked up two paint samples and put them on the door ( Behr Tsunami, Behr Antigua). I'm going to add them to my stories again. 

[eb777888]

May 9, 2024 13:02:14 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Which surfaces are you painting? (outside or inside?) If only one broad side, I'd tape off the four sides that face the frame (top, bottom, hinge, bolt sides.) And paint your edges/corners first so they can dry first. If needed, touch those up on a different day.

Outside only. 

[simpsongal]

May 9, 2024 12:33:51 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

I just started really early in the day and then we left it open until bedtime. It was fine.

Ditto - don't pick a humid day, try to select ideal conditions.  If you're doing multiple coats I would wait many days (maybe weeks?) to allow each to cure and dry.

[eb777888]

I'm going to prime tomorrow and paint Saturday morning and hope for the best. I'm going to wait a week between coats. We'll see!!

From what I've read online, people usually use high gloss paint on their doors and that takes longer to dry and has a higher chance of sticking but some of the drying timelines are crazy. One said a week! I'm going to roll the dice on 12 hours.

[Aloe Vera]

I painted my front door on the hinges and there was no marks on the door. The paint was dry enough.
I would say paint it in the morning and it should be fine by the end of the afternoon. Just make sure you never paint in full sun as it will cure too fast and create issues.

[Aloe Vera]

May 9, 2024 13:42:42 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

I'm going to prime tomorrow and paint Saturday morning and hope for the best. I'm going to wait a week between coats. We'll see!!

From what I've read online, people usually use high gloss paint on their doors and that takes longer to dry and has a higher chance of sticking but some of the drying timelines are crazy. One said a week! I'm going to roll the dice on 12 hours.

I am guessing a week = fully cured meaning it might be more susceptible to dents in that timeframe . Interior paint takes 2 weeks to fully cure but it is dry to the touch in a couple hours.
After I painted my office, I waited 2 weeks to use Command strips for frames to make sure the paint was fully cured and wouldn't come out if I need to removed the strips.

[circa1978]

I've painted several an exterior door and I just leave them open for a while and then close it like normal? IDK. Only one of those doors has a storm door and it's been fine.

[klee23]

We had a painter do the outside of our front door and shutters last September. I was at work so I don't know the exact time frame but he was supposed to come by between 8-9 and was done with the door and 12 shutters well before 1 (my husband did a drive by) so the door was closed by that point. I do know they did the door first, took down shutters and painted and then hit the door with a second coat. There was no issue with drying. Granted, this was Western PA in September so probably like 70ish degrees and minimal humidity.

[maudefindlay]

DH took the door off and a few hours later a bird flew in and pooped in our living room.

[basilosaurus]

I did have a storm door, and we didn't use the front door ever. We only used it for deliverie.

So, I took it off, sanded, painted, and put it back within a few hours.This is not a multi day process. It was dry enough to reinstall in semi-humid weather. With zero use I felt it ok. It shouldn't take days. Try for the driest weather you can and try for minimal use initially. Years later it still apparently (I say apparently because I don't live there anymore am in close contact with the person who does, my tenant) looks good.

[sent]

My contractors painted my door at the office. They did not take it off the hinges. Pretty sure they painted it in the morning, left it open for the rest of the day, and then a staff member closed the door at 5 pm when they leave and that was it.

[bittybomb]

Our painter painted it twice on the hinges the first time in beginning of summer with interior paint 🙄 and then about 9 months later after it started chipping with the proper paint in early spring. It was not sticky and was fine both times. We live on Long Island.

[eb777888]

Thanks for everyone's help!! It's painted and I LOVE it!! We just have to hang our new door knocker and H decided we need to upgrade to keyless entry. Should all be put together by tomorrow and crossing my fingers the door doesn't stick since I got high gloss.

[cereal K]

LOVE our keyless entry! I can give people individual codes and turn them on or off. The kids have their own codes and use them when they come home from school/get off the bus. I also get a notification if the door is unlocked/opened, and can set it to automatically lock after 5 minutes in case someone forgets to lock it.

We have a Yale lock, that we originally bought as part of Amazon Key. They stopped that program, but I was able to buy a new “brain” for it and now I just use the Yale app.

[leahcar]

I did mine at our last house. Painted it on the hinges- outside side only- on a sunny day. We had a storm door so I left that closed. We closed it overnight and it was fine.