It’s chalkiness reminds me of all those erasers I had to clean when I got in trouble at school. Déjà vu. I had actually painted all my doors with an oil-based paint thinking it would last longer—I thought wrong.

I took the hose to it and gave it a scrub with a little soapy water. I realized it wasn’t really as chalky as it was faded from the sun. So no sanding required, except for a little scratch here and there.

With a quick trip to Lowe’s for a couple of paint roller covers and a tray liner, I got sucked into all the Valspar color chips. We chose a color and had the paint guy mix up a gallon of Valspar Reserve. This is my go-to now. I had such good coverage and durability with it in my recent bathroom remodel that I figured it would do great on my exterior doors.

I wanted my doors to look fabulous. Sold.

The door was dry when we got home so I removed the lockset and started on the first coat. Based on my experience, I think I could get away with just one coat of the Valspar Reserve. Y’know, the paint-with-the-primer–built-in-thing. Oh, and I’m not gonna go through techniques and equipment here—we’ve covered that on Dadand before. But if you haven’t painted a door, check out Valspar’s step-by-step projects.

Holy moly one coat covered really good. It’s like the Valspar can was a time machine that took me back 15 years to when I first built the shop. I’ll do one more coat just cause this door takes a beating from the sun.

Final coat, it’s dry and I put the lockset back on. Now that I’m done with the “stunt” door, I’ll move onto the front of the house, where I have a bit more to do.

It’s been a year since I painted the front door. It’s got some wear around the handle…

…as well as some dents and scratches.

I started by sanding the dents down with my orbital sander and some 80-grit paper.

The end of the video showed me sanding with some 220-grit paper. I decided to sand the entire front door for a smooth surface to apply that Valspar liquid gold…err…Fabulous Red.

Just look at that step. I took the sander to it briefly in preparation of some floor paint.

While I was at Lowe’s, I picked up some Valspar Latex Porch & Floor paint. Déjà vu. ESP. Nah. I just looked down over the past year and knew I’d have to paint the step soon. The paint guy recommended it and said it would be good for wood or concrete. And then he time-traveled back to when my pavers were new to match the tan color. (Again…nah—I brought a spare, new paver with me to match.)

Back to the door. Since I was done sanding, I pulled the weatherstrip out from around the door so I could shut it while the paint was drying.

One coat on the door. Really great coverage. I didn’t expect any paint to be able to cover the bare metal and bondo in one coat, but the Valspar almost did it. And while that was drying, I brushed on a coat of the floor paint on the step.

The floor paint did really great covering the worn-through spots that were formerly black.

Two coats on the door for good measure.

Three coats on the step. I’ll go back and caulk around the sill plate once everything is nice and dry. It will waterproof the sill and clean up the edge of the paint.

Bam. All done. Now you can see that the rest of my house needs a little Valspar love. And some pressure-washing. And a new light. But that’s another post.