Messed up door copying influencers

I thought Sandtext was for exterior walls, not for wood. There is grit in it I think. We used it on our rendered house exterior.

Don't use a roller! They make the splatter. I use brushes for doors. As PPs have said you can't rush it. Prep work and primer one day, then 1st coat another and 2nd another so each coat can properly dry. For exterior paintwork (plus skirting boards, radiators, door frames and windowsills indoors) I use a multisurface paint (Bedec is the brand I prefer). It comes in many colours and is extremely hard wearing. I painted our meter box 25 years ago and I'm going to redo it this week because it's starting to look untidy....

It s ok nothing that cant be undone.

painting is a skill wherr prepping is the most important thing to do. so i ll tell you in order the steps

1. unhinged the door
2. fillers for cracks, let it dry then sand
3. masking tapes where you dont want to paint
4. prime then sand again but with a fine one and by hand not the automatic one
5. 1st coat of paint the sand againwith a finer oner
6. 2nd coat of paint (of you re outting a 3rd one sand in between)
7. re hinged the door

personal preference for woodworks i prefer brush to rolls

So you havent messed up you re just not finished. Today (or next week end) sand finely and paint another coat. Make sure there isnt too much paint on the brush/roll.

and enjoy your bew door

I'm with you here, I'm an electrician, but I can do brickwork, plumbing carpentry, bit of roofing, even a bit of plastering - but painting, no, ends up in a right mess!

Oh OP I'd be absolutely useless and I admire you for trying! It probably doesn't look as bad as you think. And your kids weren't neglected...not sure how old they are but it's perfectly ok for them to amuse themselves! And you'll be at a party with them this afternoon. You only neglected yourself xx Leave it for now and when you feel ready either get someone in or follow the good advice here

Have you got a friend who knows a bit more about DIY? Or relative. Get someone in real life to give a second opinion and potentially help too.

You're not a useless looser. I'm awful at painting and DIY. It's not the be all and end all. If you're in a demanding job you must have plenty of other strengths. Don't be so hard on yourself.
If you want to try DIY again maybe do it when your on annual leave so you still get some down time.

Ooo am thinking of doing this to my bifolds. Did you do inside and out Anne?

Oh OP, I feel for you. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think or can be improved. Due to watching too many episodes of Chateau DIY I think I can do wallpapering. Luckily no one else, who would have to help me, agrees!

Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) will get paint splatters off brick, just make sure you do a test area first to check it doesn't change the brick colour and wash it off thoroughly after you use it.

Don't stress @Anonymousfds it is way harder than it looks!

Sounds like you have tried to do it all quickly. You need to take your time.

When the paint has fully cured you can sand it back and try again.

Good preparation is the key.

Sand it back
Sugar soap to clear the dust and any scum left behind.
Buy a decent quality primer. Zinser is great
Let the primer cure for a good 4-6 hours (make sure there is no rain in the forecast)
Once dry, you need to use a light weight sanding sheet and very gently rub over the primer
Sugar soap to clear the dust and let it fully dry
Use a decent quality exterior paint. The one you bought is a stain so you shouldn't prime the door if you want a wood effect colour. But like fence paint.
Do not use frenchic it is awful!!
Do thin coats and build up the colour. You will probably need at least 3. Leave 4-6 hours between coats
Once fully dry use a good quality sealant

Absolutely this. DH is in the trades and his job is HARD. There's a reason people pay him good money for his services!

How many coats did you do? We painted our front door and it took 3 coats to look decent. The first two I was horrified!

Mask off the brick work with sheets of newspaper or old carrier bags use duct tape to keep in place

Well done for giving it a go. Any DIY skill takes some practice to get good at it. (I am a rubbish painter and always get drip marks on anything I have tried to paint.) In a week or two come back to your door, maybe all it needs is a light sand and another coat of paint.

Well done for trying, OP. You were wise to start with the back door, not the front door that’s on show all the time. DIY is usually harder than it looks on a video. Like any other skill, you improve as you go along.

Don’t be disheartened. You are either learning useful skills, or finding out that you don’t enjoy it and will try something else instead. We live and learn.

It might need sanding down a bit before adding another coat as it sounds like you have used too much paint. You only need a small amount on the tip of your brush.

Also my DH is a tradesman and very skilled DIYer but he can’t paint for shit! I do all the painting but he does all the prep work which takes the most time. I’m impressed you have tackled this in one go by yourself so give yourself some credit.

Also, sometimes good enough is good enough. There's no need to beat yourself up because a job doesn't look professional - you aren't a professional! Getting started, getting the confidence to even attempt a job is part of the way there and you can leave it as it is for a while until you've got more time, then do more coats/paint splash removal/resanding whatever. You know more now than you did when you first started!

DIY isnt as easy as it looks. Thats why we hire professionals to do it for us

I paint fairly often and would put aside x4 days to paint a door properly. If someone quote you less than £100 they weren’t going to be doing it properly and that won’t have included paint. All the sanding and filling/prep takes almost a day depending on the state of it to start, you have to remove partially all the door furniture for a smooth finish. Then prime, then sand more once it’s dry. Then maybe even another coat of primer once you’ve smoothed all imperfections. Then the actual door colour after a full overnight dry, maybe another light sand, then wait, then another coat of the colour, then put all the door furniture back. It’s not something you can really do in between all the other shit that needs doing when you’ve got little kids and a busy schedule. Don’t be so hard on yourself, go back to it when you have more chunks of time and/or do each stage say one day a week for a couple of weeks. That’s how I last did my front door as I didn’t have the time to spend days in a row making it perfect, I spread the job right out

I painted my front door a couple of weeks ago. Took 3 coats to make it look decent and it was hard work.

if your door wooden or pvc? PVC is very hard to paint because the paints won’t stick. And wood needs a LOT of prep work. 90% of a paint job is in the prep and only 10% in the painting.

(I’m also an amateur who has messed up a lot of diy and I’m gradually getting better).

youtube has lots of useful videos of tradespeople showing you how to paint etc properly. More practical than influencers who show off the final look.

You children were not neglected while you were trying to improve your door. They just saw mum doing something with the door. Part of normal life.
As for influencers as they like to call themselves. Pick carefully. Many are doing what they do to make money out of you. By suggesting branded purchases, those brands probably give them freebies.
Some are very good. Actually for DIY many American YouTubers are really really good. They have no need to ‘make money’ out of their skills. They do it to share expertise. Shame there are very few British ones that do likewise but there you are.

Please don’t be mean about yourself. You’re trying to learn something new and make your home nicer, those are good things. Okay it didn’t go as well as you’d hoped but I’m sure there are ways you can improve it when you’ve got the time and energy. Don’t let this stop you from trying new things in future.

I painted my uPVC front last year as I saw someone mention doing it on here and used the advice from Frenchic. It took three coats and I love it. I’d never have thought about it if it wasn’t for posters on MN!