Yes, however if you thoroughly and regularly clean your steel door, it likely
won’t need to be repainted. Simply wash your garage door once a year to maintain its original finish.
See below for the steps to painting your Garage Door.
- Cleaning Your Steel Door
Cleaning your garage door regularly is very important. While steel garage doors from Wayne Dalton require very little maintenance, it is still healthy for your door to wipe off any grime or dirt that has accumulated on its surface over time.
To wash your garage door, use one cup of mild detergent, such as Tide. If you use another detergent, make sure it contains less than 0.5% phosphate. Dissolve the cup of detergent into five gallons of warm water. CAUTION: Never mix cleansers or detergents with bleach. Use a soft sponge or cloth to wipe down your door, then rinse it off with a hose. You can clean both the outside and inside of your door this way.
- Preparing Your Garage Door for Painting
If you have a Wayne Dalton garage door with a factory-applied finish, your door should be very durable and last for years longer than a door with an ordinary paint finish. However, if your door has been exposed to the elements for a long period of time without being cleaned, you may notice slight chalking or discoloration. This usually comes off when you clean your door, but if you find that your door could use a fresh coat of paint, follow these instructions carefully.
- Remove the existing wax on the surface of your garage door. To do this, lightly scuff the surface with a gray (not green) 3M ScotchBrite pad saturated with soapy water. Afterwards, rinse the surface off with clean water to remove any remaining loose dust or soap film.
- Lightly buff or sand any surface scratches (that have NOT exposed the metal substrate) with 0000 steel wool or No. 400 sand paper. Be careful not to expose the substrate underneath the paint or the likelihood for rusting will greatly increase. f the underlying substrate is exposed, lightly sand the exposed area then paint it using a high-quality metal primer. Be sure to follow the instructions on the primer can for application and drying.
- You don’t want the surface you are intending to paint to be TOO smooth, or the paint won’t adhere correctly. You may want to test a small area to see how well the paint adheres to the surface before painting the entire door. If the surface is too smooth, lightly sand or buff using the above methods to add a little texture.
- Painting Your Steel Door
Before you begin painting your garage door, make sure it is completely dry after washing it. As soon as it is, apply a premium quality latex house paint to the surface, carefully following the instructions on the label. Do not use oil-based paint.
** IMPORTANT NOTES **
- Repainting of finish painted steel doors cannot be warranted, as this condition is totally beyond door manufacturer’s control.
- If the steel door surface has a finish-painted textured surface representing wood grain, stucco, etc., do not buff, or the danger of exposing substrate will be greatly increased.
- Consult a professional coatings contractor if in doubt about any of the above directions.
- Follow directions explicitly on the paint and solvent container labels for proper applications of coatings and disposal of containers. Pay particular attention to those directions involving acceptable conditions in which to paint.