How to repaint doors with paint that easily scratches off?

Nakita97

  

interior doors that have had a few different coats of paint over its 70+year life time, the paint scratches of easily and I’m wanting to paint them again. What’s the best way to approach this, sand or paint strip or any other ideas? The more simple the better 😅

JacobZ

Hi @Nakita97,

Thank you for your question about painting the internal doors in your home.

A combination of stripping and sanding the existing paint is going to be necessary. The problem with painting over weakened paint is that your new paint will be sticking to the already weakened paint. This means if the weak paint comes off, then your paint will come off with it.

In this situation, your best bet is to use a chemical stripper such as Tricleanium Paint Stripper, with a paint scraper to remove as much of the paint as possible, then sanding with an aggressive grit sandpaper such as 40-grit, to remove the remaining paint. You would then follow up with a medium grit, such as 120-grit, to smooth and prepare the surface for the new coating.

Please do your paint removal in a well-ventilated space and ensure you wear a mask, eye protection, gloves and long protective clothing to protect yourself.

Once the doors are sanded back and ready for new paint, you'll want to give them a clean with sugar soap and a lightly damp cloth to remove any residual sawdust from the surface of the door.

You can then apply a coat of primer such as this Dulux 1Step Prep Primer, Sealer & Undercoat, followed by 2-3 coats of enamel paint in a colour and sheen level of your choosing.

Check out How To Paint a Door for some guidance on the process.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob