Hi all. My HOA has asked me to paint, or replace my front door. There's really nothing wrong with the door, or jambs, so I'm not interested in buying a new one. The door is steel, with a faux woodgrain finish (no... it wasn't my choice - probably one of the "HOA approved" doors when the house was built). Anyway, the exterior finish of the door has faded more than some others in our cul-du-sac, so I guess they have a point.

We also have forest green vinyl shutters, which are a little faded (maybe). They don't look bad, and the HOA hasn't complained about them.

I'm not a fan of the door's faux woodgrain, and the HOA has approved my request to paint it a solid color. It occurred to me that the house would probably look best if I painted the door and the shutters with the same paint - something close to the current color of the shutters (forest green). I've done some research on repainting steel doors, and it looks doable (weather permitting). Any advice for painting steel doors (techniques, primers, paint, etc) is welcome. The door is sheltered very well, but gets a lot of direct sunlight.

Is it possible/advisable to paint the vinyl shutters? Should the shutters be primed first, or just cleaned and lightly sanded? Is there a finish paint which could be used for both the metal door and vinyl shutters (so as to get exactly the same color)? Should I take one of the shutters to the paint store and see if they can match the color (.. and paint only the door)?

Thanks!

I painted my vinyl shutters the year before last. All I did was powerwash them before painting them. They're still looking like new.

A tip: If you don't have a sprayer, then rent one. The job will go SO much faster than trying to use a brush.

A quality exterior paint will work for both the door and the shutters.

If it were me I'd just pick a nice forest green from the chart at the store rather than try to match what's there... but that's me. Nowadays they can computer match any color if that's what you want to do.

I agree with Rick. I also painted my shutters and door this past summer. My shutters were faded also so I used the same exterior paint on both. I used a semi-gloss so it didn't look to flat. Turned out great. Have fun.