Planning to paint the front corridor of my condo and also the metal door myself (the area is not very large) . A total noob here.

How do I get started?

Do I have to scrap out the old paint? Or just paint over the old paint?

The mgmt recently painted the condo area, I don't see them scrapping the old paint off.

The metal door needs different kind of paint compared to the concrete wall?

How about the wooden door? Different kind of paint as well?

This post has been edited by leongal: Oct 21 2010, 11:50 AM

Put a layer of primer on the metal door before painting the real colour. Usually those high gloss paint.


This post has been edited by Drian: Oct 21 2010, 11:55 AM

as for my house...i did a bit of scrapping the old paint on the walls..then paint primer 2 layer...then new paint

thanks....first time heard about paint primer....will go look for it too

Depend on the original colour. If same colour then no need primer also can.

I've tried not using primer on wooden door before. The thing is the next layer gloss paint can be "peeled" easily from the previous layer. Gloss paint doesn't stick too well to the previous gloss paint.

Or perhaps it's because I was using a cheaper paint, I dunno.

On saving purpose, i did try using sand paper to the door b4 paint the new layer, is just to make the paint can stick on the door nicer compare to not sand it or adding a primer.

how does a primer look like? Like tinner? Or is it like normal paint?

White colour paint like.

if u wanna save budget, just sand off the old paint before applying new paint. but make sure all the dust after sanding is fully clear before applying new paint or else it will appear uneven/sandish (am i using the right term?).

That depend on the paint you use.