I am repainting my garage door exterior. The old paint was chipping badly so I scraped away all the paint that was loose. I found out while chipping the paint that the rectangular panels on the garage door were not made of wood but of some kind of wood composite.The paint chipping process left the composite in a bad condition. The composite is now very rough and fuzzy-looking. It does not seem like sanding would do much on this type of material. It also does not look like a good surface to paint on.But please note that I have no real experience with painting or wood.Should I just go ahead and start painting, or is there something I should to to prepare for this damaged composite wood?Thanks for the help
You could get some textured spray paint or use paintable caulk to create a texture on these panels. THEN paint the entire door. With a little care, you could make these look very good. Also, you may want to glue a thin plastic or wood panel of the right size on top of the damaged area.
Most of the composite panels were made of Masonite. If the masonite is swelling as opposed to just being rough by scraping I do not know what to advise you. Most swelling you will find on the bottom of the panel. It means water or rot damage or both. You might try the Home Depot paint dept. Some of them are professional painters. I can imagine your situation though, your painted panels will still look fuzzy. Did you try a palm sander ?
The particle board panels may be replaceable if you disassemble the wood frame on the around each panel this may damage the nailed together door, this kind of stuff is what makes aluminum garage doors desirable. if having a little fuzz sticking through the paint doesn't bother you and the panels are not saggy or water damage paint away wood primer/then your color also replave the foam nailed on the bottom of the door
It depends, if the paint is chipping and falling off then it's probably best to remove the old paint. If it isn't then you can paint over the old paint but only with the same type of paint the old paint is (ex: semi-gloss, latex, oil base,etc) You may want to sand it lightly so it comes out looking a bit nicer and use primer if going from a dark color to a light color. And yes make sure it is clean b4 painting. Hope this helped :)
