# Painting louvered door tips?



## JSdrums (Nov 14, 2019)

Happy Thanksgiving! First post here...

Any tips on painting louvered doors with a brush? I'm going white semi-gloss over the same; everything is in good shape and gone over lightly with a sanding sponge. Spraying is not an option in this situation. 

Man, does it get tedious - any insight is welcome! 

Thanks in advance!


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

No tricks on brushing louver doors to make them any better to do.


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## Gwarel (May 8, 2012)

Happy Thanksgiving JS. I like to use a 3" brush. I load it and start in the center, spreading the material against a few slats at a time, using more of a dry brush to jab the corners, checking the back side frequently. Have fun!


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## Gwarel (May 8, 2012)

And yes I realize that JS is probably going to end up relegated to the DIY but I'm up early on Thanksgiving cooking and in a good mood so........ Happy Thanksgiving to the rest of you too!


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## Gymschu (Mar 11, 2011)

Depending on how "stout" the louvers are, you can really speed things up with a Whizz mini roller. If the louvers are those thin, really cheap type, then this doesn't apply. You can actually break them using the roller.

I load the roller up pretty heavily with paint and roll up and down, not side to side, pushing the paint in to every nook and crevice possible. You can never really get paint all the way to the top of each louver as its just too tight. THEN, use your brush to push the paint into areas missed by the roller and to tip off the heavy paint you just applied. You can do one side of a louvered door like this in less than 10 minutes.

The downside is that you can have excess paint running on the BACKSIDE of the door. You have to flip the door to get to these runs before they dry. Of course, using the roller is dependent on if you can lay it flat on sawhorses or a table, etc.


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## JSdrums (Nov 14, 2019)

Gwarel said:


> And yes I realize that JS is probably going to end up relegated to the DIY but I'm up early on Thanksgiving cooking and in a good mood so........ Happy Thanksgiving to the rest of you too!


I paint for a living. I might not have a thousand years of experience since I'm probably younger than most of you, but I'm not ashamed to ask a question about something I think I can improve upon. 

Are you guys not into learning? :vs_smirk:

Thanks for the replies!


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## Lightningboy65 (Mar 12, 2018)

JSdrums said:


> I paint for a living. I might not have a thousand years of experience since I'm probably younger than most of you, but I'm not ashamed to ask a question about something I think I can improve upon.
> 
> Are you guys not into learning? :vs_smirk:
> 
> Thanks for the replies!


Welcome to PT. Hope you managed to get your door finished, and learned a few things in the process. You'll find lots of advice here, some of it's even good!:biggrin:


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## Gwarel (May 8, 2012)

JSdrums said:


> I paint for a living. I might not have a thousand years of experience since I'm probably younger than most of you, but I'm not ashamed to ask a question about something I think I can improve upon.
> 
> Are you guys not into learning? :vs_smirk:
> 
> Thanks for the replies!


Well then my apologies to you my young friend. Many times a first post made on a holiday morning about a basic painting question is made by a DIY guy looking for some advice on a project around the house (Not that there's anything wrong with that). Having said that, this is a great place to learn, and I speak from experience. I hope the advice I gave was helpful and that you won't think I was talking down to you.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

I hate louvered doors... I mean I _*really*_ hate them.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*louvered door painting video*



JSdrums said:


> Happy Thanksgiving! First post here...
> 
> Any tips on painting louvered doors with a brush? I'm going white semi-gloss over the same; everything is in good shape and gone over lightly with a sanding sponge. Spraying is not an option in this situation.
> 
> ...


JSdrums, welcome to Paint Talk. It's been a while since I painted louvered doors, but this video basically shows how I go about do them:






futtyos


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## Lightningboy65 (Mar 12, 2018)

That video is wrong...you can't be painting a louvered door without wearing whites!!!:furious:


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## Gymschu (Mar 11, 2011)

Lightningboy65 said:


> That video is wrong...you can't be painting a louvered door without wearing whites!!!:furious:


Love the backwards cap!!! I can't talk much as these days I mostly wear sweat pants.....I'm just too fat to look good in my whites and it's very uncomfortable to get down on the floor to paint near baseboards and the like.


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## JSdrums (Nov 14, 2019)

Success! I used this guy's method in the video here but with a shorter nap sleeve and a 2" Corona - it was only half as painful as the brush alone (went from root canal level to that of having a good sized splinter removed :wink I went at a moderate pace and did half a section at a time. I was pleased with the results and surprised it didn't turn out drippy on the backside! 

More praise for the hot dog/banana/Whizzy roller! Thanks guys!


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