Painting a glass panelled door

This tip applies to both interior and exterior glass panelled doors, it doesn’t matter how many panels there are, whether it be a 2, 4, 8, 12 or even 15 panelled door, the principle is the same.

The first job is to remove the door furniture such as handles, letterbox, knocker etc, now cover the floor with a dustsheet to catch any splashes of paint. The next job is to remove any loose paint as well as any dirt and grime.

Next rub the door down, depending on the surface you are painting over and its condition 80-grit sandpaper will be fine to use. Rub down, going in the direction of the grain, if you have an internal ‘grain effect’ door be careful not to rub too hard and run the grain effect off!

Make sure you rub down all of the edges of the glazing beads, but be careful not to scratch the glass.

Once you have rubbed down ie ‘keyed’ the surface with the sand / glass paper dust off the surface. If the door has any bare wood showing you will need to use the appropriate primer. Once the primer is dry you can paint the door with a suitable undercoat, finally the finish coat (gloss, satinwood or woodstain etc) of your choice.

So what order do I paint the panel door?

OK, here is the order to paint your panel door:

1. Paint the door edge, you should always paint the edge you will see if the door is open. Number 1 in diagram. If it is an exterior door you should also paint the top of the door, and the bottom if you can.
2. Paint all the glazing beads and muntins. Paint each window in turn, try and not get too much paint on the railes or stiles. You can brush the excess paint off with an unloaded brush. Number 2 in diagram.
3. Paint the top rail, number 3 in diagram.
4. Paint the two side stiles next, numbers 4 and 5 in diagram.
5. Finally paint the bottom rail. Number 6 in diagram.
6. If you are using gloss, check to ensure the paint hasn’t run off the glazing beads, if there are runs simply brush them out with a dry brush.
7. You should now have a newly painted door!

NOTES:
Stiles: vertical parts
Rails: horizontal parts
Glazing beads: holds the glass in door
Muntin: vertical glazing beads

What are fascias, soffits and bargeboards

Fascias and soffits boards are the part of the house that you most likely don’t look at very often, if at all. Just to explain, the fascia and soffit is the area of your property that the gutter is attached to. The underside is known as a soffit and the part with the gutter attached to it, is the fascia.
Bargeboards are fixed to the gable end of the roof to protect the roof rafters. They are just as important as the fascias and soffits and need to be painted regularly.

What should I paint them with?

If your fascias and soffits are wood and not Upvc then at some point you will need to have them painted, you can paint them in a woodstain, such as Sadolin, or Gloss such as Dulux Weathershield or an exterior satin, again by Dulux. It really depends on your preference.
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Lining paper thickness

If you are planning on decorating a room and the walls aren’t that good your best option would be to line the walls with lining paper first.

So what thickness should you use?

Lining paper comes in different thickness known as ‘grades’.
The grades range from 800 to 2000 and vary quite a lot in thickness between the lowest to the highest grade.

Some ‘DIY’ stores only stock the lower grades of lining paper, maybe up to 1200 if you’re lucky, but normally only up to 1000 grade. You can buy the thicker grade papers form ‘trade’ outlets, local suppliers or online.
Continue reading Lining paper – What thickness should I use?