How to Renovate Your Front Door DIY

How to Update Your Front Door

If your entrance door needs a bit of TLC then this guide will help. Give your door a spruce up by re-painting it and replacing the ironmongery following these steps.

Supplies on a white background - masking tape, screw drivers, pencil, drill & bits, paintbrushes, Little Greene paint, sandpaper, dust rag, white spirit, jigsaw, fillers, knife.

You will need...

A selection of screw drivers, Jigsaw or Pad saw, Drill and a selection of bits, Masking tape, Filler, Sandpaper, Dust sheet, Rag, Selection of paint brushes, Pencil, White spirit.

Firstly, choose your door colour & Ironmongery. The possibilities are endless!

A Farrow & Ball paint swatch leaflet with a range of colours on it being held up to a dark blue door.

Once a decision has been made, and paint & ironmongery are at hand, the work can begin.

Instructions

1.) Remove any existing ironmongery.

2.) Position your new ironmongery in place and mark out any new fixing holes.

Left: hands holding a Polished Brass Doctors Door Knocker against a dark blue door. Right: hands positioning a letter plate into a pre-cut hole.

Above: Polished Brass Doctors Door Knocker.

3.) If you're replacing the letter plate, then you may need to cut out a section of your door using a jigsaw.

Man using a jigsaw to enlarge a hole for a letter plate on an old, blue door.

4.) Prepare the surface.

Make sure that your door is clean from dirt and fully dry. Fill any old fixing holes or cracks in the timber with an appropriate filler suitable for exterior use.

5.) Sand back areas of existing paint that have peeled or blistered.

This will achieve a good key for the new layers of primer and paint to stick to. Then brush off all dust caused by sanding.

Man with white gloves wiping a blue door with a rag, and then using an electric sander to sand it down.

6.) Cover any hinges, glass etc. with masking tape.

This will help protect them during the next step.

7.) Prime and paint your door according to the paint manufacturer’s instructions.

We have used Little Greene Intelligent Exterior Eggshell in Dock Blue. Your door will usually require two topcoats of paint. When happy with the coverage leave your door to dry and wash out any brushes or rollers.

Man in navy jumper putting masking tape on the edge of a blue door. Person painting door with a paintbrush and dark blue Little Greene paint.

8.) Once the paint is fully dry, you can begin fitting the new ironmongery.

Always drill a pilot hole first and fix screws into place using a manual screwdriver.

We've fitted an Aged Brass Traditional Letterbox, Polished Brass Doctors Door Knocker, Aged Brass 63mm Prestbury Mortice/Rim Knob and Aged Brass Round Escutcheons.

Man fitting Aged Brass and Polished Brass ironmongery to a navy blue door.

Above: Aged Brass Traditional Letterbox, Polished Brass Doctors Door Knocker, Aged Brass 63mm Prestbury Mortice/Rim Knob and Aged Brass Round Escutcheons.