Is It Worth Having Interior Doors Painted, and What Does It Involve?

This is for homeowners whose doors are scuffed, dull or yellowed but still work. It can be a job on its own, or part of a bigger repaint. It is part of our trim and door painting service. Front doors face sun and rain, so they are a different question. See front door colors in Florida sun.

When it is worth it, and when it is not

Worth it: the door is solid and fits its frame, and you want a new color or a clean finish. Doors are also easy to see and touch every day, so they can make a room look tired even when the walls are fine.

Fix something first: the door sticks or rubs. Benjamin Moore’s advice for sticking doors starts with adjusting them so they open and close properly, and sanding down old paint that has built up too thick. Paint will not cure a door that does not fit.

What the job involves

Family Handyman lays out the usual steps. Painters differ on some of them, so ask how yours would do it.

1. Take off the hardware. A door off its hinges gives a better result, because light and drying are easier to control.
2. Sand. This roughs up the old finish so the new coat grips, and vacuuming clears the dust.
3. Prime. Priming the whole door gives the best result.
4. Paint the edges first, then the panels, rails and stiles, finishing with the grain.
5. Do at least two coats, with light sanding between them.

That is why a door takes longer than it looks. It has two faces and four edges, and it has to dry where it will not get bumped.

Which sheen to choose

Flat makes scuffs hard to clean, and high gloss shows every flaw, so Family Handyman calls satin and semi-gloss the good compromise. Sherwin-Williams calls semi-gloss great for trim and moldings and lists it for closet doors.

Doors and trim sit right next to each other, so most people choose them together. If you are only doing the doors, match the trim you have or plan to paint it next.

Why drying matters more around here

A painted door pressed against a painted frame can stick. Benjamin Moore lists two main causes: closing the door before the paint has dried or cured, and lower-quality paint in warm, damp conditions.

Warm and damp describes our summers. The National Weather Service office for the Tampa Bay region, which includes Sarasota and Manatee, says summer dew points here can go above 80 degrees. The higher the dew point, the muggier it feels. So in summer it is worth leaving doors open longer. We wrote more about paint drying in Florida humidity.

What our customers had done

Leanna K. had a kitchen, 10 doors, a hallway and a step painted. Milana M. had an entire home painted, including ceilings and doors. Their reviews are below, word for word.

Both show the two common ways this comes up: a set of doors with a few nearby areas, or doors as part of a whole-home repaint.