One of the best DIYs we ever did was painting our composite door. I have kept this blog updated as the years have gone on, so read through to the end for updates on durability.
When we bought this house I thought nothing of the bright red composite front door. Dare I say I even quite liked it? Well, then I started paying more attention to the other houses in our street, many still with their beautiful Victorian front doors, complete with two stained glass panels and a matching stained glass side window. I grew to hate and resent the door. We couldn’t afford to replace it, so I found myself googling how to paint a composite door.
We have totally overhauled the front ‘yarden’. When we moved in there was a large camellia bush; it wasn’t planted in the best position and the flowers, when they did come, would get scorched and turn brown. As much as I’m an advocate for keeping trees wherever possible (they are so important for the environment) the camellia has to go. So we were left with a sad looking space, filled with pebbles and wheelie bins.
I decided I would make a container garden outside and gradually brought a few pots out the front. But the front garden really started to take shape when we put down paving and our built our bin sheds. I have planted a climbing rose next to the front door, added more pot plants and now it’s really started to take shape.
However. The door. Still the red door remained and it just didn’t go with anything. The house is painted a light grey; the bin shed is also a warm grey shade and all the planting scheme is doesn’t work with red.
You cannot paint a composite door – right?
I spent HOURS googling how to paint a composite door, but could find hardly any blogs or guides and those I did find all seemed to warn against it. The consensus was that a composite door is not meant to be changed. Well I think this is daft. I didn’t put the door in, but even if I had, over time, you get bored, make changes, redecorate! Of course you might want to paint a composite door. It’s surely not that unreasonable?!
Wrong. You absolutely can paint a composite door!
I looked into colours. I decided I would go for a pale blue or lavender to fit with the colour theme (and indeed all the pots of lavender).
Choosing a suitable paint
I tested a few pots and settled on Parma Violet from Frenchic Paint – specifically the Al Fresco range which is the one you need for outdoor projects and has some dreamy colours (I love Victory Lane, Serendipity and Apple of my Eye). Parma Violet is definitely more blue than my initially intended lavender but I went for it because it was the closest option they had to my dream colour.
Another option that had been suggested was Zinsser All Coat with a satin finish. This paint can be colour matched so lots of choice available. Since I initially published this blog, I have repainted the door (because I wanted a change of colour) and I used Zinsser All Coat this time. It is durable, however, it takes a bit longer the Frenchic to dry, so you need to leave the door open for a couple of hours ideally.
Note that you should paint on a warm day. If it is too cold, the paint will not adhere properly and is likely to peel.
Prep the door for painting
Clean with sugar soap
Firstly, I gave the door a thorough scrub with sugar soap. It was seriously grubby! Once it was more or less clean (save some seriously ingrained dust).
Sand lightly
I sanded it down lightly with fine grade sandpaper and gave it a good dusting off so it was free of dust, grime and lint before painting. I also removed the door furniture (except the lock which is very fiddly – I would suggest protecting that with masking tape instead). It is really important to sand the door first, whether composite or UPVC. Some guides will tell you this is not necessary and I can assure you from experience those guides are wrong. Frenchic themselves also advised me to sand first. If you skip this step, the finish will not be as durable and it likely to chip.
How to paint
No primer is required with this paint which was a real bonus and it went on a dream. The first coat took about 45 mins to apply. Here are the results:
After about an hour the door was touch dry so I began the second coat. I did two full coats with just one tester pot!
In the end I applied three coats. This equated to two tester pots of paint.
Apply beeswax
Although not specifically suggested by Frenchic, I found that a finishing coat of beeswax not only gave a lovely eggshell finish (which I prefer for this sort of project) but helped to really protect the paint. I also find it is easier to clean.
Apply beeswax with a soft cloth (like a J-Cloth) and buff up to a nice sheen.
It’s durable!
I’ve applied the fingernail test – basically I had a go at scratching the paint off – and it has stayed put. So far so good.
It’s totally transformed the door and I’m so glad we took the plunge! So don’t be scared – paint your old composite door. Nothing bad will happen!
Next up…. cleaning that uPVC and I think I need some stained glass window film…..
If you have a go, I’d love to see the results!
One year on…..
Here’s our door in Spring 2020, having survived winter! No chips or fading to be seen. (Though I still need to clean up the uPVC!)
Three years on!
A year ago, I repainted the door as I wanted to go for a darker colour. This time I used Zinsser All Coat, colour matched to a Little Greene shade. The colour match wasn’t very good, but still a nice colour (I don’t recommend colour matching generally as the colours are never a true (or even very good) match in my experience). Less than a year after using Zinsser All Coat it has bubbled significantly (this didn’t happen with Frenchic) and will need to be rubbed back. I therefore do not recommend Zinsser All Coat but I do recommend Frenchic.
I’ll be rubbing the door back and trying Little Greene’s all purpose primer next as I’ve heard good things about it. I’ll update again in due course!
Frenchic v All Coat
Frenchic
Pros:
- Dries quickly
- Nice to work with
- Durable finish
- Water based
Cons:
- Limited colour palette
- Three coats required
- Quite expensive, but a couple of tester pots were enough for me
Zinsser All Coat
Pros:
- Can be colour-matched but don’t expect an exact match
- Water based
Cons:
- Takes a while to cure and prone to chipping before this
- Poor coverage – at least three or four coats required
- Expensive
- Bubbled after a year
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will composite door painting become the new bin shed revolution?
looks brilliant.
xxx
Author
I hope so! 😍 it’s weathered well so far! Xx
A very informative one! Your article is really a good read. I really loved it. Thanks for teaching us how to paint a composite door. I really learned a lot from it.
This sounds really good and i will have a go.Our door has faded badly from the sun and looks awful.
Author
It’s much easier than the internet would have you believe! We are a wet winter down now with no chipping or peeling. Sanding door lightly first helps a lot. 🙂
Hi,great post. How is the paint holding so far? We will be doing the same with our front door so glad to find your post.
Thanks.
Author
We are a year on now and have no chips or fading 🙂
I also want to paint my composite door (back door) but can only find negative articles, until I found yours! Thank you! It has given me the confidence to take the plunge today!
Author
I found exactly the same when researching it and I know it’s not recommended, but nearly a year down the line our door look just as good now ☺️ no chips or fading. I think it actually looks more wooden because of the finish! X
Author
I found exactly the same when researching it and I know it’s not recommended, but nearly a year down the line our door look just as good now ☺️ no chips or fading. I think it actually looks more wooden because of the finish! X
Definitely going to paint my daughters Red composite door, she hates it, I hate it. So here goes when I find the paint? THANKYOU.
Author
Yay! The Frenchic paint was really good. It’s still looking fresh a year on x
Looks lovely and fresh and advice really helpful
Thank you ….has inspired me to take plunge..
Lynn
Author
Fantastic! I’m sure you won’t regret it 🙂 xx
I felt like you were reading my mind the more I read of this story. You had the exact same through process as me, even down to not noticing the door when you moved in, to then noticing everyone else’s front door and how nice they are, and then pulling all the dead bushes out of the “yarden”! It put me off after googling it too, as everywhere says not to do it, but if you can paint UPVC then why not composite? I’m sure they just say you can’t so you spend lots of money on a new one! I’ve bought Frenchic paint in constance moss today and I hope it’ll work out as well as yours. I was stuck between that one and victory lane. Exciting!
Author
Oh wonderful! I’m glad you’re taking the plunge and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. It’s definitely worth giving the door a light sand first but honestly it goes on dream and mine is still looking good a year on 🙂 good luck! X
My composite door has become tired, color faded after 10 years! I was going to replace it with a new door and was quoted for nearly £1000 for a slightly good quality door. I had this idea to paint my composite door but was afraid to do so because I had been told it couldn’t be done. Until I read your article yesterday I now definitely will have a go!! Your article is so helpful with its step by step instructions. I just want to say a big THANK YOU to you.
Author
Ah thats amazing! It works a treat and ours still looks great over a year on. Good luck! X
Hi, I’m thinking of buying a 2nd hand composite door and painting it, was the paint gloss or satin? Also did you paint the back?
What sort of sand paper did you use, a fine sandpaper sponge?
Thank you for any help.
Author
Hi Carrie, I used Frenchic Paint from the Al Fresco range and I finished with beeswax which gives a satin finish. Just a fine grade sandpaper is fine as it only needs a light sand to give the paint something to grip on to. Good luck! 🙂
We complete on a house on Friday which has the brightest Baby Pink composite doors you can image. Not only 1 door but 3 doors!!!! so you can imagine it will be one of my first jobs to do in the house. Until I saw post I thought it was going to be an expensive job replacing them or getting a specialist to repaint them.
Your post has given me the inspiration to do it myself. Thank you. xx
Author
Congratulations on your new house! What a glorious day to get your keys. You absolutely can paint them! Frenchic is brilliant xx
Hi Littleterracedhouse,
Your house renovation looks beautiful. I am very tempted to paint my composite door. I just wondered how this is holding up one year on?
Kind regards,
L
Author
Hiya, it’s great – I’ve not had to repaint it this year. I think a beeswax polish to seal it at the end helps xx
It looks fabulous!! I’ve got Duckling in the sake range and dying to get going….but can’t find anywhere any advice on shutting/locking the door! I don’t want to ruin the finish but did you keep it open between the coats and then for 2 hours after? We have animals so trying to manage the mad house if this is the case! Thanks in advance!!! Xx
Author
I kept mine open until it was touch dry but that really doesn’t take very long. I had the cat locked in the living room! X
Great stuff! I’m going to be brave and do door and windows to cover horrid dark brown affect!! You’ve inspired me….now just for a dry day in the North West of England 😬
Author
Good luck! X
Hi
That looks amazing and well done. I have also been looking online for a very long time and found nothing. Maybe its a conspiracy by the door manufacturers 😀 We also inherited a horrible deep red door which has faded from the sun over the years. The Thought of paying an eye watering amount of money For a door seems bonkers.
Is the paint you used the same as a furniture paint? Did you use bees wax to seal the paint and protect it or as a finishing sheen? I’m also really interested to know if the bees wax has changed the door colour since you did this? I thought that wax would harden and tend to yellow over time, have you found this happening so far?
Thank you and well done
Author
Hiya, I used Frenchic Al Fresco paint, I don’t know whether ordinary furniture paint – I’ve not tried any other paint personally and this is the once Frenchic recommend for composite doors. The beeswax helps stop it chipping and also give a bit of a sheen. It’s not discoloured the paint. I did it about 18 months ago 🙂
What a revelation. I didn’t know this paint existed untl I clicked on this site. I bought some pronto an ainted my ugly cmposite dor with a antastic result. THANK YOU X
Author
Oh yay! I’m so pleased! Xx