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

Was the first paint actually meant to be for exterior door?

You need to sand between each coat of paint- it’ll take 3-4 coats to finish.

Some do, some don't - and unfortunately you would generally need to be pretty good and familiar with whatever it is they're doing to spot the difference and where they've skipped steps or bodged it.

agree with pp you can always get paint off the brick work, scrape what you can off first and then work on what’s below. Also, when you feel up to it, you can sand down what’s not working (is it lumps and bumps? What exactly doesn’t look good?). A perfectly smooth finish isn’t any nicer than a hand painted finish, it’s all about what direction the paint goes on. And also make sure you mix the paint really well before using it, I do a lot of diy and paint for work too and even I sometimes forget to mix the paint, and it’s all runny at the top. Everything is fixable!

It will need more coats than you think. You can use a fine razor to remove paint on the glass or handle and you can get paint remover too for where it’s splattered

Please be kind to yourself. If it were me saying this to you about what you’ve done, no doubt you would say don’t worry, and don’t beat yourself up. Well done for giving it a go and you will be able to sort it x.

Sandtex is really good door paint, i use it on mine you might need another coat and some tidying the brickwork with paint remover but dont lose heart this is just the first step

The sander, paintbrushes rollers etc could be useful for future diy jobs so it's not a wasted expense.

For future jobs look on youtube at b&q how to guides and that Craig philips who won one of the early big brother series. He's one of the best youtubers for diy jobs. And just know that no prep is ever enough! Most of painting is actually sanding, filling, covering up the surroundings and then cleaning rollers! The fun bit is such a tiny part. The number of times I've spent so long traping newspaper up that I've ran out of time to do the job!

Been there, OP. I have 100% confidence and zero ability when it comes to home improvements, and when I launch myself onto a project the first hour is always with gleeful gusto, until reality sets in. It has never, ever ended well for me, and I never learn - I was even eyeing up a tiny bit of wall above my sink this morning, thinking, "I could tile that..." No. No, I couldn't. But I probably will, nevertheless.

One of the things that makes us human is this endearing hope and ill-deserved confidence. Don't change that about yourself. I'll raise my glass of wine to you tonight, to your dodgy door, and all the other dodgy attempts at DIY we share in our futures despite never having met. x

She's spent over £130 already plus more to come to clean up
That's more than a competent handyman builder would charge
(I had four external wood doors repainted last year with two coats, total cost £350 including paint)

Every year???

Isn't Sandtex an exterior masonry paint used to paint brickwork? It comes in both smooth and rough finishes.

You can get exterior wood paint if you are painting a wooden door, like Dulux Trade Weathershield Quick Dry Exterior High Gloss for a front door or wooden window sills.

If your door is PVC or composite, you will need a suitable paint for it.

Nothing is ever as easy as they make it look on videos and TV .The amount of I've been at the point of despair because of DIY, gardening, cooking. any number of things that they make look easier than it actually is. The amount of time I've wasted putting things down and then not being able to find them again 20 seconds later. It's ridiculous. let alone how long the prep takes and the clearing up. That said, you bought the Sander and you'll be able to use it for several tasks - even if you can't think of anything worse at the moment .You learn by your mistakes. Everyone has to start somewhere, nothing is easy the first time you do it.

All my upvc doors are painted. They were new but brown when we moved in.

Of course you can paint them, that’s why upvc paint exists. Mine are currently blue on outside and I’ve recently done a lovely off white inside. All my windows are painted too. Needs a repaint this year, we are on year four.

edited to add, wrong quote, sorry!!

Sandtex is famous for their masonry paint true, but it's just a brand at the end of the day and she said satin finish, so I think she has picked something suitable for wood. You don't see many mid-sheen houses.

I used to enjoy painting with gloss too but satin is a more modern finish, and last time I checked oil based white gloss paint had started yellowing horribly since they banned certain chemicals from it. I still find it a bit bonkers that we can use water based paint on external woodwork.