Can you paint a UPVC front door a new colour?

Most of us have a UPVC or composite front door and if we bought the door, would have chosen a colour that we fell in love with at the time. More likely, however, you would have moved into your home with the door already there and it would not necessarily have been your choice of colour. Front doors are extremely expensive to replace and can cost anything from about £500 to over £2000 so many of us just keep the door, even though we may not really like it. Often as time goes on, you may get a bit bored with the colour or you might just want to change the look of the front of your house. Giving your house kerb appears is so important, after all it’s the first impression that any visitor is going to get.

You may have read my post How to paint a UPVC door which I wrote after initially painting our front door to revamp the standard pine colour that it was manufactured in. We used a Rustoleum all surface paint and it made a huge difference but the paint finish has deteriorated over the last couple of years and just wasn’t looking perfect. The colour that we previously chose was a lovely dark greyish blue but as the finish had gone patchy we decided it was time to go for a fresh new look. I’m more of a pastel colour person too, I love pretty pastels.

After recently discovering Frenchic paint and the beautiful colours in their Al Fresco range (this is the paint that you would need for an outdoor project) the decision was made to have a go at painting the front door in Frenchic paint. You may have read my blog post on updating our kitchen cupboards by painting them in Wise Old Sage, a pretty green, we also painted over the dated tiles in Cream Dream to bring them up to date too – the result was really impressive and completely transformed the kitchen!

There are a variety of beautiful colours to choose from in the Frenchic Al Fresco range. We opted for Duckling, which is a really pretty gentle and soft duck egg colour. Al Fresco paint is perfect for updating a front door as it is weatherproof and UV resistant. You don’t need to use primer and it is self sealing. It’s also pretty easy to use – even if you are not a DIY expert – and you don’t need to do a lot of preparation before painting – isn’t that the most boring bit? Choose yourself a dry day, preferably a little sunny but not too hot and you are good to go. All you need to do before painting is remove all your door furniture, such as the letterbox plate, door knob, door knocker, door handle, door wreath etc; then clean the door thoroughly with some sugar soap and lightly sand with some fine grade sandpaper. Top tip – after sanding the surface it is really important to wipe the door down thoroughly to ensure the base is completely smooth and ready for painting.

<a href="http:// “>Frenchic website

I love the range of Frenchic paint, the most difficult decision will possibly be choosing which colour to use as they are all so lovely. They often introduce new colours too!

Once you have protected your floor (with a dust sheet or newspaper) you are ready to paint. It is best to use light, long and even brushstrokes. Once you have done the first coat I can pretty much guarantee you will be in a state of despair. Anyone who has used Frenchic paint will back that up! The first coat will not look perfect by any means and it will probably look really really patchy, like it hasn’t gone on properly and you will start to wonder what you have done and what it’s going to look like, but that’s ok – it’s normal. Just have a little patience…

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Quote by Lao Tzu (ancient Chinese philosopher)

Leave that patchy coat to dry for a couple of hours and then you will be ready for the second coat. See that patience you practised was worth it, wasn’t it! The second coat will cover up any patchiness and you will start to be quite excited with the transformation you are starting to see and the potential for a beautiful new looking front door.

We decided to give our front door a total three coats of paint, with a couple of hours in between each coat. We also decided to add Frenchic Finishing Coat to give an extra layer of protection – after all your front door is exposed to all the elements, especially with our weather in the United Kingdom – this will also give a slight soft sheen finish. Once the paint was dry we carefully put all the door furniture back on and I am super happy with the result. The front door looks like new and the Duckling colour is absolutely beautiful, it looks so fresh and pretty. You will need to be careful with your door for the first three weeks because one of the unique features of this toxin and solvent free paint, is that it will ‘cure’ or harden over three weeks to give a perfect finish.

We have got quite a lot of paint left over in the 750ml tin that we bought and I love the colour so much I’m thinking of having a go at painting the garden arch and some garden furniture and pots. Now where is that paint brush?