Painting an exterior door

[Prashun Patel]

Not sure if this is appropriate to post. Did some searching but could not find a definitive answer:

What is the best primer/paint to use on exterior doors?

The doors are fiberglass, made to look like wood. They are unprimed and unpainted. I live in NJ and get temps from 0 deg in winter to 100 in the summer. It'll probably get about 7 hours sunlight/day.

Any help appreciated.

[Howard Acheson]

Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 has always worked well for me.

[Prashun Patel]

What about the top paint coat, Howie? What's yr preferred brand/type?

[Paul Symchych]

I recently did my front door. From what I was told any primer with shellac in it is not suitable for outdoor use. Seems it can crack and peel with temperature changes. A shame because I love the BIN shellac based primer.
I scuff sanded and used Valspar Duramax from Lowe's with no primer. The paint is very thick with pigment solids and covered nicely. As for durability I can only say that it still looks good after almost a month :)).

[Joseph Tarantino]

i'd go to the therma-tru site and see what they say. their fiberglass doors are first rate. i'll be following their finishing instructions when i finish mine.

[Lex Boegen]

+1 on Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3. That's my "go to" primer, except for special cases where I need a shellac-based primer (although usually I just use a dewaxed shellac followed by Bulls Eye 1-2-3).

[Prashun Patel]

Therma tru: That's the door I have. I looked at their website; they simply say use a 'high quality' primer and paint.

So, the question is, What brand of paint do you guys like for an exterior door?

[Mike Monroe]

I'd visit a Sherwin-Williams store and see what they had say about it.

[George Gyulatyan]

Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 has always worked well for me.
Interesting about Zinsser. I found it to be too thick which made it quite difficult to work with on my frame and panel doors. Switched to Killz2 and was much happier.

[Lee Schierer]

I painted our new door with Rust-o-leum Door Paint 218409 It is made for metal or fiberglass doors and one coat will do the job. I used a 6" roller and the finish turned out like a factory spray job. I plan to use it on out front door which is starting to fade. Incidently the door I painted is south facing and gets full sun for half the day. I bought the paint at one of the local borgs.

[Steven Hsieh]

You did not mention your budget. Are you painting over dark fiberglass door? What color are you going to paint?



Good paint will cost around $50-60 gallon. With the raw materials demand the prices are continuing to go up.
I would pay more for better coverage.
But ever manufacturer has a low grade, medium grade, and high.


Benjamin Moore is my favorite
Their exterior premium are Moorglo, Aura, and their newest paint Regal Select.
Aura has a learning curve to apply. It will start to tack in 30 minutes. Coverage is excellent. But expensive : around $60 gallon
Moorglo is good paint.

I haven't try the select yet. I was told its the same as Moorglo paint line.

[Anthony Whitesell]

My parents installed a new fiberglass back door last summer. My father used PPG Automotive paint for use on fiberglass and sprayed it on. Primer, to color coats and a number 2 clear coat (soft and flexible, the scale is 1-5 soft to hard). It's the same paint we use on the fiberglass body work for out competition go-karts.