Operation Red Door!

My house is a constant work in progress. There isn’t a room in it that does not need something done to it, walls painted, wallpaper removed, cabinets stained, chandelier replaced, floor replaced and the list goes on (and on). Bub and I just tackle one project at a time.

I was reading Bower Power and her post on painting her front door, when it dawned on me the front of our house needed something.

It needed some lipstick! Bub agreed wholeheartedly and he even agreed it should be red. But, what red. We certainly do not have the best track record picking out paint and we even follow all the rules- going so far as to get the samples and testing them before committing to the paint color. We looked at several reds; red, NOT maroon, NOT pink- and narrowed it down to Red Delicious by Glidden by taping paint swatches to the door.

Once we finalized our decision on which red, we got right down to business. First thing, Bub took the door off the hinges using a Flathead screwdriver and a hammer. He put the tip of the screwdriver at the top of the hinge and tapped the handle with the hammer causing the pin to come out of the hinge.

Our door is original to this 1985 home and when we started really looking at it, it was easy to see that this would not be its first paint job. First thing Bub removed the caulk around the leaded glass window and then off came the door handles- yes, handles. I don’t know nor do I understand but, the door has two handles. All there is to taking the handles off is unscrewing the screws on the inside side of the door.

And then, Bub started sanding. He didn’t sand all the way down to the metal of the door- he just sanded it a bit so that the primer would be able to gain traction. It was at this point that we came to the conclusion that if we were going to the trouble of painting the door, it would still look like crud if we didn’t clean between the leaded glass pane and the door window.

So, Bub removed the trim and carefully took off the leaded glass pane and put it on the floor in our living room. (While I was getting busy priming and painting, Bub got busy replacing the weatherstrip on the backside edge of the leaded glass pane.)

We taped the plain window in the door with painter’s tape and plastic sheeting to protect it from the red paint accidents. We used Rustoleum Primer in red and Glidden Exterior Flat paint in Red Delicious. Here she is! One coat of primer and two coats of paint

To finish, we laid the leaded glass pane back on top and replaced the trim, which was only a matter screwing screws back into the previously made holes. The trim needed to be caulked. You run the caulk bead along the edge and then use your finger to flatten it out. When ever I do this with my finger, it always reminds me of running my finger around the edge of a layered cake to get a taste of the icing- random, I know. And the trim needed to be painted too. I was a bit hesitant because my cutting-in skills are not amazing but, had I known Bub’s trick, I would not have hesitated. He just used a piece of thick paper to protect the leaded glass pane.We replaced the handles and hung the door back up in the hinges, with a little help from our neighbor.