How To Paint Exterior Metal Doors To Last

Did you know you can paint exterior metal doors? Yes, you can and that ugly metal frame will look so much better. And it’s easy. You can also paint the vinyl trim around your doors and window. This metal door paint makeover will have you running to the hardware store for paint.

I painted our front storm door (see here) a few years ago and it has held up really well, no chipping or peeling. So I decided to paint the screened exterior door in our carport and I’m sharing the paint details, plus……. how it looks two years later.

How To Paint Exterior Metal Doors

The aluminum / metal storm door for our carport entryway door was a mess. There are dings and dents in the metal at the bottom. I thought painting it would help camouflage the dents. Also painting the wood door and the storm door the same color should make the entryway look better, right. There isn’t anything I can do about the electric meter, cable lines, and other mess on the brick wall. Or at least I haven’t thought of a good way to hide those things yet.

Okay, getting back to painting the exterior door. The color I selected is Havana Coffee. The paint is Behr Premium Plus Ultra Exterior paint and primer in one. Even though the paint contains the primer I decided to double up and bought some Kilz primer for the job.

First order of business was to tape off around the glass panes/inserts with painters tape and lay down a drop cloth. I tend to be a messy painter. Since I wanted to paint both the interior door and the exterior metal door I decided to tackle both doors at the same time.

I asked that the primer be tinted and they told me it couldn’t be tinted the same color as the paint. I’m not sure why? Maybe they would have to add too much color for the mix?? Anyway this is the color of the tinted Kilz Primer. Not a pretty shade or even close to the Havana Coffee color I selected.

The Havana Coffee is a very deep, rich, brown. Really pretty.

The major issue I had with the paint job was allowing the doors to dry enough that the paint wouldn’t stick when the doors were closed making the fresh paint peel off. The exterior metal door wasn’t a problem but the wood interior door wanted to stick to the weather stripping. I never found a good solution for the problem but I did read about one later. Wiping the paint with Vaseline where the door meets the frame sounds like a good idea to me. I’ll try that tip next time I paint a door.

The paint looks great and the ding in the door is still noticeable but it isn’t glaring. With both doors painted the same color your eye doesn’t go immediately to the dented door. This photo was taken two years ago when I finished up the project. You can see this project on the Behr paint website. It is part of the Behr Designer Series.

I took this photo a few weeks ago. As you can see the paint has held up really well. The only area where the paint chipped just a bit is the door handle. I guess that makes sense since we use the handle everyday, numerous times a day. We use the carport entrance as our main entryway as do all of our friends and family. We hardly ever use our front door.

See how nice the paint looks?? I painted the vinyl wrap around the wood casing along with the weather stripping too. No chipping or peeling. You can see my front door and metal storm door project here…Painting a Metal Storm Door. Amp up your curb appeal with a can of paint and primer and a few hours of time on the weekend.

Have you tried painting a metal storm door or exterior metal door? If you have I would love to hear about it. If not have I gave you the information you need to give it a try? Leave a comment please and I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day and thanks for being here. Kathy