Painting - primed steel doors

I have two Stanley metal exterior doors made by Pella that were never finished. The doors are still primed from the factory. I can't find any info on what type of paint the primer will accept. I'm sure oil based will be fine but I would rather use latex. thanks

I have two Stanley metal exterior doors made by Pella that were never finished. The doors are still primed from the factory. I can't find any info on what type of paint the primer will accept. I'm sure oil based will be fine but I would rather use latex. thanks

How old are these doors? What kind of exposure do they/have they had?

Lets say its been more than 6 mos from installation. I would get a waterborne primer and roll it, or get some aerosol primer and prime them.

Wait for primer to dry, and then topcoat w/2 coats Latex Enamel. This should do it for you.

Primer is not paint, and it doesn't weather or clean well. Your door should be washed well, and dry before beginning your project. Good luck

latex is fine but will take a few coats and will chip much easyer then oil

A good latex semi gloss enamel should do just fine. I prefer to remove the door and its hardware, lightly sand the surface and spray the doors with a good enamel like Krylon or Rustoleum.

if they are older then about 4 months, I always reconmend a good cleaning with TSP and then re-prime with XIM 400 White. this is a metal bonding primer. after it is primed topcoat with a good latex. oil topcoats tend to fade faster then latex.

Some metal doors require use of latex only as oil base isn't flexable enough for the doors with the thinner metal which expands and contracts with temp changes.

You shouldn't need a primer [providing the factory primer is intact], just make sure the door is clean.
I also prefer to remove the hardware, when that isn't feasable tape the edge of the doorknob, makes applying paint a little easier and faster.

Andy5150:

I have merged your two threads with this question into one here in painting and deleted the one in paneling and trim. Please post questions only one time in the future.

thanks guys. Sorry about the double post Mitch. I accidently posted in the paneling and trim forum. Happens sometimes when your not wearing your glasses. thanks again.