Remove door hinges before you start to avoid drips as you paint.
Vinyl coating creates a smooth finish with long-lasting durability. However, if you decide you don't like the color of a vinyl-coated door, applying paint is tricky. A smooth, nonporous vinyl surface often leads to runny, spotty paint jobs. Fortunately, you can avoid these problems with some light prep work and the right kind of primer. When approached with the right know-how, virtually anyone can paint a vinyl-coated door.
Instructions
1. Remove the door hinges and place the door on a large tarp. While this means you'll need to let one side dry before painting the opposite side, door removal is a good tactic because it eliminates the potential for paint drips or accidental splatter on nearby objects.
2. Sand the door's surface with 220-grit aluminum oxide sandpaper. Fine sandpaper helps rough-up the surface enough for better primer adhesion, but it won't scrape deep enough to completely remove the protective vinyl coating.
3. Wipe the surface with a clean rag to remove the sandpaper dust.
4. Apply bonding primer to the door with a medium-nap paint roller. If you're painting both sides of the door, make sure the primer is fully dry before you flip it over to paint the backside. Bonding primers are better suited for smooth surfaces than a regular general purpose latex primer.
5. Paint the door with a basic latex or oil paint using a foam roller. As with the primer, don't flip the door over until the first coat is fully dry.
6. Apply a second coat after the first coat dries. With proper preparative sanding and bonding primer, the paint should cover in just two coats, though in rare cases you'll need a third coat.
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