Fiberglass exterior door paint issue

Yar02169 · Apr 7, 2008

I have an exterior door made by Anderson that doesn't like paint. I have painted, stripped, and repainted the door several times without any luck. Shortly after being painted, the paint bubbles in some areas, and it perfect in others. I have used both oil based and latex paint, and the results are the same. Initial paint preparation included washing the door down with TSP to remove any oils or residual dirt.
At this point I have sanded the bubbles and repainted the effected area, but the paint (latex) again bubles.
Any ideas out there?

Jimbo · Apr 7, 2008

A good primer is the requisite first step. Contact a good paint store, or Anderson, for specific requirements. These doors should be paintable.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Squ1rrel · Apr 7, 2008

Jimbo is right, primer is a good start. Also, make sure you are within the temperature range if you are painting the exterior of the door. Most paints cannot be applied when the temp is below 50 degrees, although some can be used down to 35.

Ian Gills · Apr 7, 2008

I do not have an Anderson door but I used a matt oil paint (Rustoelum) on my fiberglass door to good effect.

elkhornson · Apr 11, 2008

Although expensive a boat epoxy paint will work the best and last the longest. The marine epoxy paints are designed to adhere to fiberglass and their long life is important as sanding blistered paint off a fiberglass door is not really an option and chemical strippers are pain to use.

John

Yar02169 · Apr 22, 2008

Thanks for the info. Now, to correct the problem, so if I want to persue correcting it I need to remove the current paint. As Elkhornson states, sanding the fiberglass is really not an option, so I will have to go with a chemical removal. Is there a known brand of paint remover that is safe to use on fiberglass? I know the process will be messy, but if I can make the door look like it isn't from a scrap yard, I'm willing to try it.
Originally I painted the door down in my basement before it was installed, 65Â°F or so, other coats were done after installation at 70Â°F+.

Verdeboy · Apr 22, 2008

You might have better luck with a heat gun, although you'll have to determine the right temp to use for a fiberglass door.

DIY · May 3, 2008

door paint issue

Does this fiberglass door have a simulated wood grain texture to it? If that is the case perhaps that wood grainy texture is holding in greases, oils, dirt etc.. Preventing you from getting the door really clean before applying a primer coat (some doors come with primer on them) then the finish coat. As well, as other have mentioned depending on your weather conditions might cause your prep work to have to be "double good" which might lead also you to a tolerant primer/paint for your conditions.Best of luck to you with your door.

epicjohn · Jul 28, 2020

I work for Epic Doors which manufactures high-performance fiberglass entry doors. We evaluated several paint suppliers including TruCoat 623, Sherwin Williams Polane 2K Acrylic, and Aquasurtech D200.

We were looking for an environmentally friendly, single component water based paint that was super durable, had great adhesion and laid down smooth.

Based upon our evaluation we selected TruCoat 623. It was much more environmentally friendly than Polane 2K and is a single component and TruCoat had better adhesion than D200 and was priced better.

Fiberglass exterior door paint issue

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