We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Your Cart For most paint, you may have to wait about two days before you can rehang the door. I am painting the exterior and interior faces of the door different colors. To date, Patrick and his team have painted over 2,000 houses and stained over 800 decks. When you're inside, the lock side of the door shows, so you'll want to paint the latch side of the door the same color as the interior. How do I know if a door I want to repaint was painted with an oil or water based paint? Apply the paint with a synthetic brush in the direction of the grain. This article was co-authored by Patrick Coye. Paint can take anywhere from four to eight hours to dry enough to close the door. Allow the door to dry completely before reattaching the hardware and rehanging the door, if you removed it to paint. Use sandpaper to smooth the surface, and wipe the dust off with a clean, damp rag. Just thinking out loud. Have somebody else holding the door as you remove it from the hinges. 1 In that case, you’ll need to mask off the hardware or cover it with a painter’s rag. Wind and sun can cause the paint to dry too quickly, and humidity can prevent it from drying properly. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 259,824 times. Allow enough time for the paint to dry fully before putting doors and windows back into use. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/d1\/Paint-an-Exterior-Door-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Paint-an-Exterior-Door-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/d\/d1\/Paint-an-Exterior-Door-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/aid1353250-v4-728px-Paint-an-Exterior-Door-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"