How to Paint an Ordinary Garage Door to Look Like a Wood Garage Door

Last Updated: March 11, 2023

Here's an inexpensive DIY faux painting project that you can do to improve the curb appeal of your home especially if you have a boring white garage door. For most homes, the garage door occupies more than 30 percent of the frontal view so upgrading your garage door will definitely help improve curb appeal. With a few inexpensive tools and supplies and patience, anyone can turn an ordinary white door into one that looks like wood without spending the thousands usually required for a custom made one.

Steps

1
Choose a suitable outdoor UV protected paint base color with no gloss added (matt finish). A commonly used base color is Sherwin Williams Monarch Gold. Other brands can be used provided it closely match the Sherwin Williams Monarch Gold. Also get Sherwin Williams Woodsy Brown for the overlay coat over the Monarch Gold color.
- Use one gallon to start with. Quantity depends on size of door.
2
Pressure wash your garage door. Let dry.
- Use denatured alcohol soaked in an a clean rag or wiping cloth to remove grime that have accumulated over a period of time on the garage door surface.
- Lightly sand the door surface with a fine sandpaper for better paint adhesion.
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3
Prepare to paint the garage door. The painting technique required is often referred to as faux painting. If you're not sure what it is, check out How to faux paint and familiarize yourself with the proper techniques and tips.
- Always test paint on something resembling the garage door first, such as an MDF board on a small area on the back of your door.
4
Start applying the base coat Sherwin Williams Monarch Gold on the garage door surface. Use a paintbrush and roller for this step.
5
Let it dry completely 24-48 hours. The base paint must be completely dry before apply the next step.
- Your garage door will look bad at this point, as Monarch Gold is Orange in color. You may even get a couple of obscene phone calls about your choice of color for your door. Stay cool and ask them to come visit your house after two days.
6
Using a new brush, apply the Sherwin Williams Woodsy Brown onto a small section (2' x 2') at a time. Use a clean rag and lightly wipe down so that some of the Monarch Gold shows up. This is where you have to decide how much of the Woodsy Brown color to wipe off. It will determine the final color of your door.
7
Move to the next section and repeat the process. Always make sure to transition to the next section by matching up to the prior section. Make sure the transition is smooth and that there is no hard break from one section to the other.
- Some people apply wood grain using a wood graining kit. This step is not necessary as it requires some practice to make it look natural. The faux painting should give you an excellent result without using the wood grain tool.
8
Wait 24 to 48 hours for the paint to dry.
9
Apply a coat of matt UV protected clear coat to give it the faux finish an added protection. Congratulations! Your garage door now looks like a wooden garage door.

Expert Q&A

Question

What is the proper way to paint a garage door?

Patrick Coye
Painting Specialist
Patrick Coye is the owner and operator of Patrick’s Painting & Home Improvement in Alexandria, Virginia. With over 15 years of experience in residential construction, Patrick specializes in painting, wallpaper removal/installation, drywall, staining decks and fences, and kitchen cabinetry painting. To date, Patrick and his team have painted over 2,000 houses and stained over 800 decks. Patrick's Company won a "Top Job" award from the American Painting contractor magazine in 2020.

Patrick Coye

Painting Specialist

Expert Answer

Open the garage door first, because you have sections that have seams (typically the top, middle, and bottom). Work in sections, painting the bottom section first. You can manually start to pull it down so you do the bottom section first. Then, pull it down and do the middle section. After that, pull it all the way down and do the top section.
Question

Can I use latex exterior paint for this, or does the paint have to be oil-based? Do I need to thin out the woodsy brown with glaze or anything?

Community Answer

It's just layers of paint, faux-finishing (regular exterior latex is fine). You can start light or dark, then just paint on contrasting graining. You might do best with a broom head (plastic tines/hairs), where you cut back a bunch of broom sections to cover a lot more area. Then, you can go back with a paint brush and flair sections of graining wider for a more natural wood effect.