How to Paint a 5-panel Door

Today, I painted the door I found in the attic for the half bathroom. We found a carpenter who would do all the door trim and hang the door for us. It works out and costs less than a brand new pre-hung door. Since he's coming tomorrow, I had to finish painting the door today. It's much easier to paint a door while it's down and with no hardware. MUCH easier!


Finished first coat.

For a How-To, use this from This Old House. I LOVE this tutorial!!!


First, clean the door with a damp rag and give it a light sanding. Get in all the crevices.


Using an angled paint brush, paint the "molding". Get in the corners and make sure you don't have any excess painting drips. You want the molding to be defined.


Using a small paint roller meant for doors, paint the "panel" (center rectangular piece) and then the "rails" (the horizontal panels).

Allow the rails to dry a bit before finishing by painting the "stiles" (the two vertical panels on each side). It sounds tedious and you might be wondering why bother? I learned from experience that the results are just better if you paint the door in this methodical manner. The stiles will camouflage any brush/roller marks made from painting the rails.

Maybe tomorrow we'll have a bathroom door! Yay!