A front door takes more daily handling and weather than almost any other piece of exterior joinery, and it is the first thing anyone sees. A quick coat over old ironmongery and a scuffed threshold looks tired within months, while a properly stripped and refinished door earns its place as the smartest part of the house.
Letterboxes, knockers, numbers and handles all get taken off before painting where practicable, which gives a clean edge and lets us actually get into the recesses behind them instead of leaving a painted-round outline that shows within a season.
The bottom rail and the threshold take the most water, the most foot traffic and the most flexing as the door is used daily, and they are consistently where a front door coating fails first, usually well before the rest of the door looks tired.
A porch is a small, enclosed space that traps condensation, and its ceiling and glazed side panels weather differently to the open door itself. We treat the porch as its own mini-scheme rather than an afterthought tacked onto the door.
A proper high-gloss front door finish depends on a flat, well-filled surface underneath as much as the topcoat itself, since gloss shows every imperfection a matt finish would hide. Rubbing down between coats and controlling dust on site both matter more here than on almost any other exterior job.
Where practicable, yes. It gives a cleaner result and lets us properly coat the areas usually hidden behind a handle or letterbox, rather than leaving an unpainted outline once it is refitted.
We choose the time of day carefully and avoid warm, still evenings when insects are most active near a freshly coated surface, moving the final coat to a cooler part of the day if needed.
Yes, we can match against a sample, a reference number or a photograph, and we would always confirm the exact shade with a small test area before committing the whole door.
Send us a photo of your front door and porch and we will describe the finish we would recommend.
A front door repaint that lasts starts with removed ironmongery and a properly flattened surface, not just a fresh colour.
Speak to a Hampshire commercial decorating contractor that turns up, communicates clearly and delivers a finish that lasts.
