Using Auto Paint on an Exterior Door

I love the doors on the historic house we are saying good-bye to…

I have painted and repainted those old doors many times over the last twelve and a half years.

They’ve been varying shades of red, pink and blue…

After I managed to get the porch of the new house clean, scrubbed the front door and freed the 417 spiders that had been camped out there the past few years , I added a few planters, a fun doormat and a bench with a very lovely cushion to make the front entrance more inviting…

But I just wasn’t happy with it. The whole thing seemed a little…dull. boring. predictable.

Then it dawned on me that red was a little too conventional of a door color for me! It is pretty, for sure, but just a little too traditional.

I knew I needed to change it to make this house feel more like home.

Benjamin Moore ADVANCE paint and Holland-Lac paint have always been my “go to” products for creating uber-glossy doors.

While both are a little pricey, they are worth it.

But this front door seemed to take glossy to a whole new level. It had such a beautiful shine!

How the heck did they get that shine?

I asked a “real painter” to take a look.

He told me he thought the builder must have used… auto paint!

Seriously. Car paint is on our front door.

Who knew that Sherwin Williams had a whole separate line of auto paint?!

Not this girl. And I’m a girl who knows her way around a paint can…

Using Auto Paint on an Exterior Door

A quick trip to my local Sherwin Williams Automotive paint store and I discovered the following:

• I better never wreck my car because OMG is auto paint expensive
• These stores are a whole lot different than a regular paint store
• This is no job for a rookie painter…

To use auto paint on our exterior door I learned you have to:

• Sand the door with a 320 grit sand paper followed by a primer coat that requires an activator ($22 for the primer and $14 for the activator)
• More sanding with a 600 grit sand paper after the primer dries for a few hours
• Add two to three coats of auto paint that needs a “reducer” added to the paint ($75 for the paint and $21 for the reducer)
• After about 15 minutes, a clear coat with an activator needs to go on ($22 for the clear coat and $10 for the activator)

And it needs to be sprayed on using an air compressor spray gun…which I don’t have…

All told the paint costs alone will be about $175… and the “real painter” tells me it would be in the $100 range for him to do it.

The good news that it is super durable.

Which for me is actually kind of bad news…

I like to repaint my door often and need to use the “it’s looking a little worn” excuse.

Sherwin Williams uses a “prospectors” system to match auto paint.

So if I do this, I will use Benjamin Moore’s “Blushing Red” paint color you see in this Christmas photo …

What do you think? Splurge? Don’t splurge? 

I can’t make up my mind…

#NewHouseExpensesAreOverBudget #ButILoveMeAShinyDoor

Stay tuned friends…

The painter can fit this project in to his schedule once the crazy heat and humidity improves…

Please Help Me Grow

As always, thank you for dropping in for a visit. I know you are probably super busy enjoying your summer!

One of my goals for the year is to grow my little blog in to a part-time gig! With the move, I’m off to a very slow start.

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XO

Shelley

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