Homes and private clients

Painting internal doors and their ironmongery

Internal door laid flat on trestles with handles removed before painting

Internal doors get handled more than almost any other painted surface in a house, and a poor finish shows immediately at hand height. Deciding whether ironmongery comes off, whether the door is hung or laid flat, and how much clearance to leave at the edges all affect how the finish looks and whether the door still closes properly afterwards.

Removing handles, hinges and locks properly

Painting around a door handle leaves a visible, uneven edge and a ring of paint on the ironmongery itself that never looks intentional. Taking handles, escutcheons and where practical the hinges off, bagging the fixings per door, gives a genuinely clean result and lets the ironmongery be cleaned or polished separately if needed.

Handles, locks and escutcheons removed and bagged per door
Original screws kept with their door rather than mixed between rooms
Ironmongery cleaned separately while the door is being painted

Doors on or off the hinge

Doors taken off and laid flat on trestles give the smoothest possible finish, particularly with a sprayed or fine-brushed system, but not every job needs that level of finish or has the space and time for it. Doors painted on the hinge can still be finished well with careful technique, just with a slightly different result on close inspection.

Clearance, sticking doors and the top edge everyone forgets

Doors painted too generously along the closing edge or the top can start sticking as soon as humidity changes with the seasons, particularly in older houses with slightly out-of-square frames. We check clearance before painting and finish the top edge of the door too, since it is one of the few surfaces regularly missed entirely.

Closing edge and hinge edge checked for clearance before final coats
Top edge of the door painted, not just the two faces
Doors that already stick assessed for easing before repainting makes it worse

Questions we are asked about this

Do you take door handles off before painting?

Yes, wherever practical, along with escutcheons and locks, which gives a cleaner finish than masking around them and avoids paint building up on the ironmongery itself.

Should doors be taken off their hinges to be painted?

It gives the smoothest result, particularly for a sprayed finish, but is not essential for every job. We can advise based on the finish you want and the time available.

Why do some newly painted doors start sticking?

Usually because too much paint has built up along the closing or hinge edge over multiple repaints, or an already-tight door was painted without easing it first. We check clearance before adding more coats.

Door handle and escutcheon bagged separately during repainting

Tell us how many internal doors need finishing and whether any already stick, and we will plan accordingly.

Get a quote Call 023 9355 3460

Where this comes up locally

Portsmouth Eastleigh Hedge End

More on this kind of work

Conservatories and garden roomsConservatories and garden rooms need a specification built for glass, sun and condensation, not a standard interior approach.Period features and cornicesPeriod detail survives decorating best when the amount of picked-out colour and paint buildup is kept deliberately restrained.Seafront hotel exteriorsA seafront hotel frontage needs grading by exposure and visibility together, and a programme built around the trading calendar.Exposed gable endsA blank exposed gable often weathers faster than the rest of the house and is usually best treated on its own shorter cycle.

Internal doors finish cleanly when ironmongery comes off properly and clearance is checked before, not after, painting.

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Planning a commercial painting or decorating project?

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Request a quote 023 9355 3460