Paint prehung door before installation

10 years ago

Hi All,

I have a new prehung steel exterior door. It will need to be primed and painted, different colors inside and out.

I live in N. Texas and it's 100+ here right now, so no one (DH :-) is too interested in trying to remove the old door and hang the new one right now and I'm fine with that.

I would like to go ahead and get it painted though, since it's going to take a while to get through both sides, all coats of paint, the drying time, etc.

I haven't examined the packing too closely but I think there is something that stops the door from moving in the frame right now.

Is there any reason we can't carefully undo whatever is holding the door in the frame, undo the hinges and take the door out for painting? I could also prepaint the frame as well,

I realize it could get nicked up when we hang it but I'm OK with that and touchups. We took all our trim off, painted it and put it back then touched up the nail holes and that was a lot easier than painting baseboard on our hand and knees.

So is there more to this than I am aware of? Any reason I shouldn't do it?

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

millworkman
10 years ago
It is actually a very good idea as it is much easier to get good coverage on both the door and frame indoors on horses in a stable environment. As you noted you may need to touch up or even put a light finish or top coat on after installation, but you already are prepared for that.
lucas_tx_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks.

So I'm in no danger of doing something bad to the frame by removing the door now as long as we are careful, don't wrack the frame while doing it, that kind of thing?
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rmtdoug
10 years ago
Only pull the hinge pins when you take the door out of its frame. Do not unscrew the hinges. If you do, the door will probably squeak when you put it back together (this is experience speaking here)
lucas_tx_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the tip.