DIY Faux Wood Garage Doors

A little know-how goes a long way in DIY, as is amply illustrated by Larissa over at prodigalpieces.com in a blog post documenting her transformation of her garage door from a plain boring white into a masterpiece of faux wood all through an ingenious painterly effect.

Previously Larissa and her hubby had walled in the inadequate carport their house had come with when they bought it. They painted it white to match the house; and installed a builder’s grade wide garage door with carriage windows.

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This served more than adequately for several years, but the ever restless DIYer in Larissa yearned for more, especially after they upgraded the house and with a new color and stone veneer. The pristine white of their door no longer matched the pastoral country feel they were after.

Larissa has had a great deal of experience in builder-ly endeavors, while at college she was involved in a student painting crew that taught her a great deal about what can be accomplished with paint, brushes and a little imagination.

The builder’s grade garage door came with a faux wood grain finish all but lost in the expanse of the white paint. It did however give Larissa inspiration for what she could do to bring the utilitarian white expanse of the door into better alignment with new décor of the house exterior.

Taking her cue from the built-in grain, she decided to utilize her skills and knowledge and create a new finish: she would paint the door to look like rustic wood.

To take a metal door and transform it in such a way involved several steps. Larissa was able to accomplish the task set before her with a few cans of remaining paint, a few brushes, rags and gloves from the local home improvement center.

And the fruits of her past experience.

Preparation was minimal, consisting mostly of a thorough cleaning of the garage door surface.  Larissa was lucky enough that her garage door still sported the label it came with which detailed instructions on how to paint the door; most homeowners will probably not be as fortunate especially if their house is older; but a basic cleaning should always be the initial step.

Her painting process involved several coats of exterior paint, basically two coats of her base coat, a burnt orange/caramel color, followed by what Larissa terms “glaze” which she made herself and which resembles in some respects, the stain which would be applied over a real wood door. The latter is a thinner version of her accent paint, in a rich dark brown, created by adding water to the paint.

For a detailed explanation of her glazing process, step by step instructions, tips and advice on paint curing times (subject to weather conditions), and the decorative elements she added to complete her revamped carriage door look check out her post at:

https://prodigalpieces.com/diy-faux-wood-garage-door-tutorial/


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