Why you shouldnt paint your front door black?

The major problem for a black painted front door is heat. When any painted surface overheats the material is going to melt and crack. It will buckle and the paint will start to buckle. You can get this problem with wooden doors but for steel and plastic the effect is going to be even more dramatic. South facing doors are going to get a lot of sunlight on them so they will be effected the most, but the type of door and the color that you paint it will have a big impact too.

If you have glass storm doors you will know that they can act like an oven if they are in direct sunlight all day long. The plastic trim that surrounds the glass can quickly melt because that space between your main door and the outer storm door gets to a very high temperature. If there is caulking around the inner glass this can melt and ooze down the door. It’s advisable to remove the glass from storm doors and use a screen instead.

When you are choosing the color to paint you door you have to think about how much heat it is going to absorb. The darker the color the more UV rays are going to be absorbed. These rays from the Sun will build up heat on the surface and the trim. If the door absorbs a lot of heat then it will begin to warp and distort. It is actually possible to get a measure of how much sunlight each color is going to absorb. This is called a Light Reflectance Value, or LRV and you should look at the LRV index for paint colors that have a percentage of 55 or higher. The higher the percentage the more light will be reflected, and the cooler the door will remain. Some door manufacturer will actually void your warranty if you use a paint that has an LRV rating below 55%.

The worst doors for overheating are metal doors. In the summer months they can get so hot that they can burn skin. They also often have a metal or glass trim that can easily get damaged in the heat. If your doors are south facing it may be advisable to replace metal them with wood or maybe fiberglass. It is really important that you paint them with a light color if you aren’t able to replace them. Wood doesn’t have the same capacity for collecting heat but it can shrink and expand under heat change and this can lead to cracked paint and an ugly empty line where the color has shrunk away from the edges. It is possible to get specially designed doors to counteract this issue. Whichever way, we really recommend you don’t paint your front door black.

Here’s our take: One thing I would never do as a garage door expert is paint a white steel garage door black…without reading this first.

White house, black trim is such a popular exterior color scheme right now it even has its own trending hashtag and Pinterest following.

Painting your garage door black can turn your house into an instant scroll-stopper. But if you skip the instructions and use the wrong paint, you could end up ruining your garage door and voiding the warranty altogether.

Clopay was one of the first garage door companies to incorporate thermal-reflective paint into our factory-finishing process so that we could safely offer black as a standard paint color on most steel garage doors.

If you know you want a black garage (or another dark color), order it pre-painted so it’s done correctly and backed by a guarantee.

And if you are updating your exterior and have your heart set on painting your existing garage door black, do the following:

Read the manufacturer’s paint and refinishing instructions for your specific garage door model. Certain steel garage doors with overlays cannot be painted a dark color.

Clopay has a list of approved paint colors based on the Light Reflective Value (LRV). Light reflectance is given a value between 0 and 100. The lower the number, the darker the color. Black is usually close to LRV 0.

Check your door’s LRV requirements before you buy the paint.

Use a high-quality, 100% acrylic latex exterior grade paint with a bonding primer. Most homeowners prefer the look of a flat or satin finish. Never use oil-based or alkyd-modified paint on a steel garage door.

Ask your paint store expert for a solar reflective formula that will reflect the sun and keep the door surface cooler.

No sanding is required to prep the surface of a steel garage door. Simply wash the door with a biodegradeable cleaner to get rid of dirt, oil, wax and mildew. Rinse with clean water.

Hold your brush and roller! A final step before you paint is to do a quick pre-test to make sure it will adhere to the surface.

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