Messed up door copying influencers

[Anonymousfds]

Please be kind I’m really feeling low right now. I’m trying to make my home look better as I feel really depressed that the house had been neglected. I followed the instructions given by this lady on tik tok who has transformed her home. She’s in her 60’s and a novice not professional. She made everything look so easy and I thought I can do it rather than pay someone hundreds.

I spent £55 on a sander which she recommended any electrical cordless one which I got, sanding pads £12, primer £27, door paint £35. Plus painters and rollers. Already I’ve spent more than was quoted to paint door. The door looks awful. Even though I put masking tape around it the paint has splattered onto the brick wall around it. I put sheets down but there’s paint over the patio. The paintwork looks awful. I really feel fed up. Spent a good amount of time yesterday sanding, priming etc. I don’t want to waste today as well. I have young kids so they’ve been neglected whilst I do this. I feel I’ve had no downtime this weekend and back to a bloody stressful and demanding job tomorrow. House is a mess as I didn’t do my usual cleaning on Saturday. I’m so fed up I feel like crying and did last night!

plus youngest has a class party today service parents are expected to supervise at. Why did I even bother trying to make my house look better? I’m a useless loser who can’t even paint a door

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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....

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.

It took me about ten days to repaint my front door in the end.

Decided to strip all the paint rather than just sand it a bit and crack on. My god it took forever. Litres of paint stripper. A heat gun. Had to get a proper mask. Never ending.

And all the furniture off and on and making sure it didn't rain.

Anyway it was worth it in the end and now it's hot pink.

But as a not-naturally-DIY type person I can fully sympathise with your plight. Ni need to be so hard on yourself, just do you best and move on.

From my experiences of DIY preparation iis what gives you what you are looking for as well as quality brushes,rollers and paint.This as you say is your first attempt and you will learn as you go on.Influencers cut down the time it has taken to complete the project so you just need to plan when you have even a couple of spare hours here and there and build up your project.Sounds like youve tried to do it all too quickly.Juggle it around children,housework etc then at least your keeping on top of your routine.Dont be disheartened you have done brilliantly giving it a go.

I only did outside but I keep meaning to do inside!

I followed the Frenchic advice and bought the paint from them. If you’re on Facebook there’s loads of info on there from other people who’ve done their own doors. The paint is a dream, it’s chalky and goes on smoothly and looks as good today as a year ago. I sugar soaped, sanded, rinsed, painted, painted, painted. Just used a smallish brush but you can use a roller. It took a weekend off and on in good weather and I listened to a lot of podcasts. I started with masking tape on the glass but ended up taking it off as the paint is pretty easy to manage.

I’ve got horrible uPVC windows on the front which I’d love to paint but it’s going to be a humongous faff and I can’t really face it yet but I’ve got some of the door paint left so I might do the fuse box.

Good luck with yours!

As it is the back door I’d leave it for now - get prepped for the week ahead (including some rest) and try again on another weekend.

I think you were really brave to try to do it yourself - you should be proud of yourself.

Also all those tools you bought can later be listed on EBay or
Facebook marketplace when you decide you don’t want to use them anymore.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone underestimates how long it takes to do DIY the first few times.

Painting an exterior door is a 3-4 day project. A professional would quote at least £500.

So a least an hour to mask off and to protect surrounding areas with covers.

At least an hour to sand and clean the door. More like two.

At least an hour to prime paint.

Then leave to dry for 5- 6 hours.

At least an hour for first coat.

Then leave to dry for 5- 6 hours
Lightly sand back again.

At least an hour for second coat.

Then leave to dry for 5- 6 hours
Lightly sand back again.

At least an hour for third coat.

And if a dark colour, four coats will be needed.

So it's physically impossible to do it in a day!

You dont have to beat yourself this much. Yes, you misjudged a lot but take it as a learning curve.

Sandex is a good quality paint. I guess you have water based paint, rather than the old fashioned oil? Water is what is available now. I've used their oil based, took 6 days to dry but I think that must have been an off-tin! But it's a good, durable finish and still looks ok now, 7 years on.

Water based paints are better than they used to be but they are tricky to get a nice, clean finish without brush marks. Synthetic brushes and wetting the paintbrush first can help, but the issue is you're using a paint that dries really fast and outdoors so hard to go over any mistakes, drips etc.

If you can face it I would sand all that down again (it will not sand off easily, as water based gives a kind of rubber texture) and start again. There's an additive that can be used on water based paints that slows down drying time, giving you more wiggle room for a good finish. If the door is mainly flat, a roller may be a good option too. Alternatively, get an oil based paint but paint first thing in the morning, 2 mornings running because will take all day to dry enough to close the door!

Cover the brick work around the door with masking tape to catch splashes and something to cover the floor. An old towel, flattened box - all good.

I know how you feel OP. I'm in a similar situation with a neglected house but no time and money. I did paint my front door with Frenchic paint as it said it didn't need priming etc. I gave it a light sanding with sandpaper, a wash down with sugar soap and then gave it two coats of paint. It surprisingly didn't look too bad.

As I am useless at DIY, I tend to rely on ChatGPT and Goblin Tools for help. With ChatGPT, I ask it to explain it to me as if I was 5, and it covers all the steps. If you tell it you want to do it as cheap as possible, it will amend according to your budget. With Goblin Tools, you put in what task you want to do, and it breaks it down for you in as much detail as you need.