Garage Door Makeover

Now that our house is looking pretty good, it was time to turn our attention to our detached garage. Our garage doors are original which means they are 81 years old! They have been patched and painted numerous times over the years. I admit that when we moved here we just slapped on a coat of paint and called it a day. It has been peeling more and more in the recent years so I knew it was time for a garage door makeover! This post is sponsored by Wagner and all opinions and ideas are 100% my own. This post also contains affiliate links.

Our garage makeover journey actually started last Fall. This is what it looked like back then. A real beaut, eh?

Since I have a 3 step ladder rule (I hate heights!) Shane was the master behind the scraping, sanding, caulking, and painting the top portion. I made the basketball hoop backboard and he attached it for me.

As lovely as the top half looked, it made the doors look all the more faded and shabby. And then one day we lost a poorly applied replacement panel so I knew we had to move this garage door makeover project to the top of the to-do list.

Garage Door Makeover

Step 1: Make Any Necessary Repairs

The top two rows of panels are original as well as one on the third row. But the others are scrap pieces of particle board that were screwed on from behind and were obviously deeper than the others. I took off all of the bottom panels and removed the recently broken glass (thanks to the basketball hoop).

I added a thin piece of plywood to the backside of the door. It was almost a full sheet of plywood. That allowed me to be able to have something to attach the new panels to. I used liquid nails to adhere 1/2″ plywood squares and then caulked around them.

Step 2: Scrape and Sand

Here’s where the elbow grease comes in. Doing this project when it was hovering around 100 all week was not the best. Also I should note that if your garage door is as old as mine, you need to do a lead paint test. They are inexpensive and easy to do. If you are lead paint free, you can proceed!

Because of how many thick layers of paint were on this bad boy, even after scraping off the loose paint, there was still a big difference between where the raw wood was showing through and the top coat of paint. Sanding these transition areas will help lessen it but it will still show after being painted. It is what it is. This makeover is a temporary fix. The other option was to strip the paint off of the door and trim but that would have been more costly and more time consuming. The quality of the wood and the shape it was in after 80 years in the sun didn’t warrant it.

Step 3: Clean it Well

After all the sanding, I needed to clean the dust off. I chose to hose it down. Anytime hosing something is an option I do it instead of wiping it down. Outdoor furniture, kids…

Step 4: Tape and Tarp

When the door was completely dry, it was time to protect the areas around the door. Since the overspray of the Wagner Flexio 5000 is minimal, I chose to use the thin plastic tarp with tape already attached. I ran it along the sides and along the bottom.

I chose a good exterior paint with UV protection.

Step 4: Paint!

Before you turn the sprayer onto your project, first test it on a large piece of cardboard. It was my first time using the Wagner Flexio 5000 and since it has more settings than the HomeRight sprayers, it took me awhile to get the feel for it and to fine tune the adjustments for the paint I was using. The iSPRAY nozzel that I was using also puts out more paint since it is meant for larger projects and is not a finish sprayer. That took some getting use to.

*Side note… Some of you may be wondering why I am all of a sudden using a Wagner Sprayer when I have been using HomeRight sprayers for 7 years. Guess what?! Wagner and HomeRight got married :) They merged earlier this year and I now have the opportunity to test our the Wagner line as well.

One other cool feature is that the motor is on a housing unit on the ground so you can have more paint in the container and it isn’t as heavy. No more tired arms as you spray back and forth.

Holy cats you guys! Look at my garage door makeover! It kind of looks like new! All the panels are firmly attached and are the same depth. No more gaps and tears. I went ahead and gave the regular door the full Wagner treatment as well.

I added plexiglass to the windows instead of glass. Since the basketball hoop is right above, I didn’t want to risk the windows getting broke again. I know there are pros and cons to plexi, but it is our best bet for now.

I also removed the paint from the original lock and handle so they stand out in all their brass glory.

After a week of scorching temperatures, the day I was finishing up and trying to take photos it was a DOWNPOUR. So much rain. The trim paint is actually still wet in the photos because of the humidity. But the wet paint and wet driveway don’t take away from the fact that this garage looks a heck of a lot better than it did a week ago.

I’m not done!

Part 1 was painting the top half, part 2 was painting the garage door and trim, part 3 is still to come! One more big project that I have the supplies for, I just need to get up the courage. Stay tuned!

Giveaway!

HomeRight/Wagner are offering to give one lucky reader a Wagner Flexio 5000! That is a $215 value. This includes not only the iSPRAY Nozzle that I used (meant for broad surface projects) but also the Detail Finish Nozzle for smaller projects and a super smooth finish.

You must be at least 18 years old to enter. You must be a resident of the USA to enter. The giveaway will go from August 1, 2019 until August 8, 2019. A winner will be chosen by random.org and will be notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be chosen. The shipping of the prize is the responsibility of the company, in this case, HomeRight.

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