Painting Laminate Slab Doors
A Few Tips for a Successful Door Transformation
In my home, the doors on the bathrooms and bedrooms are wood-toned and glossy laminate slabs. The only thing I don’t like about them is that the wood tone makes the hallway really dark. For years, I have been wanting to paint the doors a nice shade of white to brighten the hallway and give it less of a “cave” look. Painting the laminate slab doors was really easy and went off without a hitch!
The doors were in really great shape even with having two kids around slamming and running into them. The only thing I had to do to prep the door was use a razor blade scraper to remove residue left by stickers (kids do love their stickers!).
Paint doesn’t stick to glossy laminate by itself, so I used a shellac based primer to coat the doors so I could paint them. The shellac based primer sticks to a wide variety of glossy surfaces (even laminate countertops) and can be coated with regular latex paint. I sprayed the primer on the doors with my HVLP sprayer. The primer can be brushed or rolled on as well, but I wanted an ultra smooth finish I wouldn’t regret later…
Once the primer was dry, I used a sponge roller for smooth surfaces and rolled on two coats of paint. I used Behr Ultra in Silky White which is my go to color for trim in my home.
The jambs around the doors are also the same wood-toned, glossy laminate and I opted to roll the primer on. Once the jambs were dry, I rolled two coats of paint on them as well.
I replaced the doorknobs (which had been spray painted in funky bright colors chosen by my daughter), then replaced the hinges. One door needed completely new hinges because several years ago, a certain little boy was playing Tarzan on the doorknob and bent the hinges to oblivion. He lived with a door that didn’t close properly until he moved out at age 21.
So, finally, I am on my way to having white doors in my hallway with two doors down and two to go! I’m not sure why I waited so long to start painting the laminate slab doors but I am glad it went so well! Have any questions? Leave a comment below!
Originally posted 2016-10-31 08:00:18.
