# Painting weathered ext vinyl door



## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

I have a vinyl/plastic surfaced door that needs prep, prime and paint on a house that is going on the market in May. I do not recall ever painting a door or other vinyl piece in this condition, so here I am asking you all what you would do. The door faces west and has taken a lot of sun through the storm door as you can see:









The surface is quite weathered and can be sanded with my finger. I am wondering what I should clean it with and how far I should go sanding it without destroying the faux wood grain. I am thinking to be very careful washing and sanding, then prime with something that is going to bond really well and harden the soft surface a bit before I top coat it with white satin or semi-gloss.

Any advice on

1. cleaning
2. sanding
3. primer
4. Any special white paint?

Any advice to avoid making mistakes would be welcomed.

futtyos


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Actual vinyl or fiberglass? Regardless, think you have to get any loose stuff off even at the risk of sanding away the texture (no loss IMO) or risk adhesion issues. Prime with a decent bonding primer then top coat with an appropriate enamel.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

I don't see Guardz in the equation?

I would just clean with Krud Kutter, two coats of your choice of exterior enamel and be done. You should not need a primer.


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## sayn3ver (Jan 9, 2010)

Like asked already? Actually vinyl clad or is it fiberglass. If it's vinyl you should be able to treat it like vinyl siding. Either use a vinyl safe color or the same shade or lighter to prevent warping. 

If it's fiberglass , the same color selection process typically (most manufacturers of fiberglass doors will spec the darkest paint color you can use...with a light reflectance value.)

If it's vinyl, you could technically get away with a good cleaning to get all the chauky oxidation off then top coat with a 100% acrylic topcoat. 

I'd probably prime but since it's for a sale....I'm sure the budget is probably close to zero.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Gardz gardz gardz gardz gardz*



MikeCalifornia said:


> I don't see Guardz in the equation?
> 
> I would just clean with Krud Kutter, two coats of your choice of exterior enamel and be done. You should not need a primer.


I knew someone was gonna tag me with Gardz and it might as well be you! :vs_laugh:

I do like the idea of cleaning with Krud Kutter, rinsing and painting. Which Krud Kutter are you speaking of? I just picked up a gallon of Krud Kutter House and Siding to do the outside of this house. Is that the one you are referring to?

Actually, the principle of using Gardz may not be far off. The surface is oxidized. Perhaps some coating would soak in and bind the oxidized plastic to give a more stable surface for allowing paint to stick. I am not aware of any such solvent-based product that would be analagous to Gardz, so I am here humbly asking all my betters what to do. 

If this was for a client who wanted to continue living there or was buying and wanted this taken care of, I might try to convince them to replace the door.

This house will go on the market May 1st and the owners want it to look decent. The surface seems to take a bit of sanding, though I think that the wood grain will suffer as a result, but as RH said, it probably won't be a terrible loss. I have the feeling that once I get a nice white surface on there, buyers will not notice details such as sanded down fake wood grain.

I gues I am just hesitant to paint this door without any idea of whether or not it will come back to bite me in the something something as Homer Simpson might say. I have a few days to decide how to approach this as we are having an extended winter here in northern Illinois. 

Maybe lilpaintchic will offer some advice along with the admonition that I am overthinking this. In this case I probably am, but better safe than something something.

futtyos


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## Lightningboy65 (Mar 12, 2018)

Hand sand with sanding sponge, 2 coats top of the line exterior latex. Oxidation occurs only on the surface and with a thorough sanding and wipedown will cause no problems. Neither vinyl nor fiberglass generally require primer.

Definitely do not paint the door too dark as I have encountered several that have warped , some of them quite badly.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Just KK original. I just spray it on then use a damp cloth to scrub it off. Then rinse the rag and give it a clean wipe. It will do a number on any coating that is there.

I don't know if you have ever heard of SealKrete Original, but like Guardz, I always have a can of it for oxidized and chalked surfaces. Just brush it on, let it dry, and it will be sealed up ready for paint.


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Lol, I got nothing to add to these guys. I'd just give it a good scrub down with a green brill9 pad and some kk and paint it with (pick a quart of paint here). Once it's clean, just about anythingvwill stick to it. If it's oxidized, then it's already deglossed, you just need a sound and clean surface. Happy painting fructose!;p

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## Krittterkare (Jul 12, 2013)

I worked for a company that declined painting painting vinyl all together for failure issues, I ended up buying a home that had vinyl siding that was chalking heavy, I did a very heavy power wash and the next day it was chalking just as much. 

I used a latex paint from Kwal paint company called liquid vinyl "it was just a paint line and not designed for vinyl" and it lasted a good 8 or 9 years with no failure and I repainted the house last year.
I believe do not over think this, just use a quality water based paint and avoid oil primers and paints. I would think a mid sheen would be fine but a low gloss would have more problems. 
I just sprayed and back brushed.

remember the commercials with the old man spraying the siding with the water hose saying that was all that was needed when you re-sided with the vinyl siding? that was not true. But what is true we can paint that siding and it will be like any other paint job of course paying attention that too dark od a color may cause problems.


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## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

A realtor turned me on to the fact that there are vinyl sided subdivisions here in Austin that have HEO's that demand they get painted when it gets too faded. I was going to blanket flyer some of those neighborhoods, but Im busy enough now where I dont need to. I've never even painted one, actually.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*4 coats and NO GARDZ!*

Here is the door. First photo is ready to prime (sanded, washed down with water and dried). 2nd and 3rd photos show 2 coats of 123 and 1 coat of ext semi-gloss white. Last photo is after 2nd coat of semi-gloss white. I tried to cover it it better, but when I put too much primer or paint on it started to run. It took all of 4 coats to completely hide the brown. Basically just used a 4" miniroller for the whole thing. What was I worried about? Baby steps. 

































A couple of years ago I painted a brown garage door to match the off-white siding. This took 2 coats of 123 and 1 coat of paint and still did not cover. I did 2nd coat the edges with paint (got on a ladder inside the garage with the door up and rolled the areas that would be hitting the weatherstripping on the top and sides) and I could tell that the rest of the door needed a 2nd coat of paint, but the owner was renting it and did not want to spend more money to finish the job properly.

futtyos


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## Tprice2193 (Oct 3, 2017)

Job well done! Looks good!


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Production line*



Tprice2193 said:


> Job well done! Looks good!


If I had a bunch of doors similar to this, I wonder how I could get from dark to white in only 3 coats without any primer or paint running. :O

futtyos


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## Vylum (May 12, 2016)

more than one door like this im dragging out the sprayer. maybe a good job for those hang held sprayers


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

MikeCalifornia said:


> Just KK original. I just spray it on then use a damp cloth to scrub it off. Then rinse the rag and give it a clean wipe. It will do a number on any coating that is there.
> 
> I don't know if you have ever heard of SealKrete Original, but like Guardz, I always have a can of it for oxidized and chalked surfaces. Just brush it on, let it dry, and it will be sealed up ready for paint.


Agreed that SealKrete is the best for extreme conditions. An alternative is an additive called EB Emulsa Bond by Flood. No need for a separate step.

https://www.flood.com/products/paint-additives/e-b-emulsa-bond


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