What type of paint do I use on my front door,metal?

I would use an oil based enamel unless instructions came with it recommending against it. Oil base is a bit messy to work with, but once done, will last a long time. Latexes are much better than they used to be, but I still don't think they equal oil.

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Originally Posted by ladyofthehome

what type of paint do I use on my front door,metal?

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Oil Paint is the best.. it won't wash off or fade with the weather

If It Isn't Primed Yet Use A Good Laytex Primer And Then A High Quality Laxtex Exterior Paint, I Say This Instead Of Oil, Because Oil Take A Long Time To Dry, Bugs , Dirt , Dust Will Get Into It. And Laytex Will Do Just Fine, Good Luck Nichols Trim And Carpentry

Latex will not adhere as well as oil. That door will expand and contract much more than wood and it's going to need oil to last.

Just To Clearify , Metal Will Not Expand More Than Wood...
That's An Advantage To Metal Door Over Wood, I Replace Hundreds Of Wood Doors With Metal For Just That Reason,
If You Have Extreme Temps Where You Are Really Hot Or Really Cold , Maybe Direct Sunlight On Your Door Then Maybe Use Oil. Let Me Say This If You Have Dogs Scratching To Get In. Well Yea You Need Oil For That It Is More Durable By Far. But
Me Nor My Painters Use It Unless Its Ask For.
Oil Base Paints Are Not What They Used To Be. They've Stripped Them Of What Made Them Better , More Durable Paints,
In The Time It Will Take You To Coat One Side Of The Door, You Can Have Coated The Same Door With Latex 3 Times.
30min Dry Time To Well All Day And If You Paint The Door After Work It Will Still Be Wet In The Morning.

Nothing Personal Ballenger

No offense taken, I think we are just looking at this issue differently. Wood does expand quite a bit since it can absorb moisture and metal does not. I was looking primarily at the thermal expansion of metal which is significantly higher than wood. Coefficient of thermal expansion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I guess it was narrow minded of talk likewould be no moisture involved. I do have a side question for you though. I recently installed 3 exterior steel doors (oil paint) but can't find a good product/paint for the vinyl trim around the windows. Neither oil or latex seems to stick to this vinyl for more than a few months. Got any suggestions for the vinyl primer?

It's true these days... the ingredients that made oil based paints and primers better than water based products has been removed due to environmental and health concerns. Today's water-based paint is just as good but the key to success is the primer. I've had to paint just about everything you can imagine (and hate every minute of it... I'm NOT a painter) and of all the water-based primers that I've used... the one that I believe is the best (and I've tried hard to prove their claims wrong but haven't been able to yet) is:

Zinsser "Bullseye 123" It even stuck to glossy wrought iron (without any scuffing needed) and although it took 2 coats, I was able to cover gloss black paint with glossy tan.

Couldn't believe it!!

Are You Talking About The Pvc Trim For Windows And Doors? For The Most Part If Everything Is White We Don't Paint It, We Just Fill The Holes And Silcone The Joints, Ill Reseach That And Get Back With Ya,
Eric

Glavine, that's the stuff I need to paint, PVC trim. Might give Kstars idea a try.