I just did a "strip and paint" job on the 45 year old entry door to our house in California. The door is "solid" wood with luan ply facing, and was in pretty good shape. It was previously stained. I used an oil-based stain blocker primer, two coats, then two top coats of exterior latex semi-gloss, in bright white.

The paint job looks fine. However, even after waiting for more than a week before installing the new (vinyl) weather stripping on the door stops, the door now sticks badly to the weather stripping when it has been closed for any length of time. In the morning it takes a pretty hefty tug to get the door to open at all. It is particularly sticky at the top corner on the non-hinge side.

My question is whether anyone has any bright ideas as to something I can wipe onto the edge of the weather stripping to help this situation? If not, I guess I'm going to need to do a repaint of the exterior surface of the door - but how do I make sure that this time I get a paint that will not cause the same problem?

All thoughts appreciated!!

Thanks


Ian

 

Welcome to the forums Ian!

What brand of latex paint did you use? Many latex enamels are prone to stick if objects are pressed tightly against them for a prolonged period. This is especially true of the cheaper paints. Oil base enamel won't stick although it takes longer to dry. It will yellow over time but may not be overly noticable on an exterior door. The better latex enamels will dry hard enough [after several days] to prevent this. It isn't a problem with flat latex paint.

I'd suggest going to your local paint store [not big box paint dept] and going over your options with them. I'm not aware of anything that can be applied to the weather stripping to prevent the sticking - least ways nothing that won't discolor the paint.

 

Try rubbing a white candle on the weatherstrip, or parafin if you happen to be a canner.

I was going to say some spray dry lube, until I saw the color of the door.

 

Thanks guys.

The paint I used was Valspar, from the blue big box. I guess I should have known better, although the paint went on fine (aside from the sticking).

Earlier today I used lacquer thinner to clean off the vinyl weather stripping, then applied parafin wax. I thought I'd try the easier fix first. Let's see if I can get out of the front door tomorrow morning!

I suppose the longer term, more permanent, fix is to repaint with oil-based enamel. Hopefully I can find something that can be applied over the current finish - I'd hate to have to strip the door down again - not sure if the luan veneer would survive a second sanding!

Thanks again for your help.

Ian

 

While I'm not fond of applying oil base over exterior latex, it should do fine. It would be a good idea to sand the door well. You don't need to sand all the latex off but removing some of it may help.

 

So, the door is definitely sticking much less after applying the parafin wax. So, I'm going to touch up where the paint has pulled off (I'll temporarily remove the weather stripping for a week or so) and call the job done for now. I expect I'll need to re-wax at some point, but if it works for a decent amount of time between waxings, that will be ok.

I also do not really like applying oil base over latex, but if I do need to do it I will hand sand the latex to remove the surface before I start. Hopefully that will be enough to allow the new paint to adhere.

Thanks again for the advice and ideas.

Ian