Painting steel insulated garage doors

Color change, matching exterior finish choices and increasing curb appeal are all reasons to paint your garage door. Before you do anything, get the manufacturer’s recommendations and instructions, and check how field painting affects your warranty.

Most door manufacturers do not warranty doors with non-factory applied paint. If you can, order factory finished doors. If you still want to paint a steel insulated garage door, here are a few things to consider:

• Hire an experienced professional painter.
• If you decide to paint yourself, make sure you understand and are ready to do all required painting prep work.
• Use a high-quality acrylic or latex exterior grade paint as recommended by the manufacturer. Never use oil based paint.
• Do a paint test on the door’s interior and check for blistering, peeling and adherence before painting the entire door exterior.
• When painting, pay extra attention to preparation, temperature, and sunlight.
• Dark colors are not recommended. Heat from the sun combined with a dark color can cause thermal bowing, blisters, bubbling, flaking, and peeling, especially when the inside temperature varies a lot from the outside temperature. For detailed information about thermal bowing, dark colors, and sun exposure, click here for the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association Technical Data Sheet 185.
• Darker colors are rated by Light Reflective Value (LRV). One manufacturer specifically forbids using any color rated 0-12 LRV. Black is typically in the 0-12 range. This same company also specifies that colors in the 13-38 LRV range must be solar reflective.
• Document the paint, process, conditions and when you painted if you wish to maintain a factory warranty.