# painting commercial metal door frames



## dgordo4ut

i am doing some commercial work. this job has several new metal door frames,you know the gray primed looking frames. painting them a light ivory color(oil). i am concerned about having to do more than two coats. should i prime first with a tinted primer? i am painting the walls around the frames the same color. can i prime the frames with the flat latex paint then finish coat with semi gloss oil. thanks


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## ewingpainting.net

I have done many timely door frames, you should be good to go. I have painted them white, two coats of top coat is more than enough.


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## CApainter

Don't prime the frames with flat latex paint. You should not have to paint them more then twice with a brush, and maybe once with a spray apparatus.


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## dgordo4ut

thanks for the info. looks like two coats did the job. may need a few touch ups here and there.


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## timhag

Use 123 on the frames, do not use a flat as a primer.


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## timhag

dgordo4ut said:


> thanks for the info. looks like two coats did the job. may need a few touch ups here and there.


Hope you give it the scratch test b 4 you walk away from that job.


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## dgordo4ut

*Paint Thinning*

When I Paint Door Frames With Oil Base Paint My Brush Begins To Gum Up. I Started Adding Thinner To My Paint And Brush But Now Have To Go Back With Third Coat On The Frames I Am Painting Now. What Am I Doing Wrong. Thank You


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## Safety Guy

dgordo4ut said:


> When I Paint Door Frames With Oil Base Paint My Brush Begins To Gum Up. I Started Adding Thinner To My Paint And Brush But Now Have To Go Back With Third Coat On The Frames I Am Painting Now. What Am I Doing Wrong. Thank You


Don't use thinner use Penetrol, it will help flowability without damaging the integrityof the paint.


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## paint_booger

DTM Alkyde!


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## boblenzen

Are they powder coated timly frames or just hollow metal frames? If pw coated you will have to prime them with XIM Sw primer ( says my paint rep from past exp.) If HM frames I would just caulk em up and spray em


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## CK_68847

We do a ton of commercial and always have a ton of frames to paint. I would spray them especially if it is a light color. Most light colors or whites take 3 coats even with oil if you do them with a brush and mini roller. 

Most typically you can come in and spray your frames right when the sheetrock gets done and come back the next day with low tack tape and tape them off or sometimes I will mask the frames first and prime and paint the walls. You can come back and run some paper around the frames to protect from the gloss overspray. Being that you are doing the same color however I would prime and put a finish coat on my walls and spray the frames after the fact. I might not even worry about the overspray on the walls from spraying the frames. Most generally in decent sized commerical jobs you are trying to get a prime coat, one finish coat and your frames coated quick. At the end, we will come back and put a last coat on everything. There is no reason to get everything finished early on because everyone beats up the walls and frames.

The other thing with frames is in my view always go with oil. Oil is much better than any latex. Latex chips much easier and wont last. I personally like using sherwin williams oil dtm over any other product. It is very easy to spray and you can spray a pretty heavy coat without worrying about it running. It also dries much faster than most other oils. Most painters dont like it because its hard to brush and mini roll if you have not worked with it. You just have to add paint thinner throughout the day to make it workable.


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## CK_68847

dgordo4ut said:


> When I Paint Door Frames With Oil Base Paint My Brush Begins To Gum Up. I Started Adding Thinner To My Paint And Brush But Now Have To Go Back With Third Coat On The Frames I Am Painting Now. What Am I Doing Wrong. Thank You


You will gum up during the day if you dont add a little thinner randomly throughout the day. It is a happy medium. If you paint enough frames you will get the hang of it. Even if you do add a little thinner to oil the oil will still cover better than latex. You will be lucky if you ever get a latex dtm paint to cover in two coats. 

If you are doing frames with a brush make sure to use a foam type mini roller because nothing looks worse than just brushing frames. That is why spraying is optimal to do right away because when you do go back to re do your frames in the later stages of a job you can brush and mini roll them, and it still looks like they were sprayed.


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## Workaholic

Some good info in the last few posts but keep in mind the thread is over two years old so the OP more than likely either figured it out and completed it or struggled and completed it.


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## VanDamme

Workaholic said:


> Some good info in the last few posts but keep in mind the thread is over two years old so the OP more than likely either figured it out and completed it or struggled and completed it.


He could still be milken' the job :tongue_smilie:


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## Last Craftsman

Workaholic said:


> Some good info in the last few posts but keep in mind the thread is over two years old so the OP more than likely either figured it out and completed it or struggled and completed it.



I was hoping he just threw in the towel on painting all together.

He described grey primer on the casings, then wondered if he should "prime" them with flat latex wall paint.

Then added so much thinner to his oil that it required 3 coats instead of two.

Mind boggling.


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