Garage Door Painting — Steel, Aluminum and Wood Overhead Doors
The garage door is the biggest painted surface on the front of most houses, and it is usually the first one to fade, chalk or rust at the bottom edge.
JMB Builders does garage door painting across the Twin Cities metro: steel, aluminum and wood overhead doors washed, scuff-sanded, primed where the finish needs it and painted with the door closed, then raised to catch the section joints. A sound factory finish gets a bonding primer; chalked paint gets washed until the chalk stops, then primed. Priced per door, quoted from your photos within one business day.
- Priced per door, single or double
- Steel, aluminum and wood overhead doors
- Chalked factory paint washed and primed first
- Quote from photos in 1 business day
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
An overhead door takes more weather than any wall. It faces the driveway, it gets sun most of the day, and the bottom section sits in slush all winter. Factory finishes on steel doors hold up for years and then start to chalk: a white powder comes off on your hand. Paint put straight over chalk lets go in a season. The prep is the whole job.
We paint steel, aluminum and wood overhead doors, insulated or not, flat panel, raised panel and carriage style. The door stays on the tracks. It is painted closed, with the sections raised partway afterward to get the tongue-and-groove joint between each section, so nothing shows unpainted when the door goes up.
Color is your call. Most doors go the trim color or the body color so they disappear; some go the front door color so the two read as a pair. Send a photo from the street and we will tell you what a dark color does to a steel door before you pick one.
What you supply
- The color, or a photo of what it should match (front door, trim, siding sample)
- The driveway clear in front of the door for the day
- The opener unplugged or the door disconnected from it, or we do it when we arrive
- A word about what the door is: steel, aluminum, wood, and whether it is insulated
What JMB supplies
- Wash with a degreaser and rinse, then a second wash on a chalked door until the chalk stops coming off
- Scuff-sanding of the factory finish and rust at the bottom edge sanded to bare metal and spot-primed
- Bonding primer on steel and aluminum, exterior wood primer on bare wood, tinted for a dark color
- Two coats of exterior acrylic, brushed and rolled, or sprayed when you want a smoother finish
- The section joints painted with the door raised partway, the bottom edge and the weatherseal area cut in
- Weatherstrip at the jambs, the handle and the lock masked or removed and put back
- The jambs, header trim and the service door painted on the same visit as their own line
- A labeled leftover of the color for touch-ups
How it is priced: per door
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Single vs. double door, and one door vs. two on the same house
- Flat panel vs. raised panel or carriage style with windows, which take more cutting in and masking
- Condition of the old finish: sound factory paint scuffs fast, chalked or peeling paint takes extra washing and priming
- Rust at the bottom section that has to be sanded, treated and primed
- Wood doors that need filling, sanding and an oil primer, or a stain instead of paint
- A dark color over a light one, which takes a tinted primer and sometimes a third coat
- Painting the jambs, header trim and service door on the same visit
Send one photo of the door from the street, a close-up of the bottom section, and a photo of your hand after wiping a panel. If the hand is white, the door is chalking and the quote includes the extra prep.
How long it takes
One steel door: a day, with the second coat the next morning if the weather is cool. A wood door that needs filling and priming: two days. Two doors on the same house: usually the same two days.
How your project works
- 1
Wash and check
The door is washed with a degreaser and rinsed. We wipe a panel with a clean rag: chalk means a second wash and a bonding primer, rust at the bottom means sanding to bare metal. The opener is disconnected so the door can be moved by hand.
- 2
Sand, spot-prime, mask
Factory finish scuffed with a fine grit, rust and bare spots primed, windows and hardware masked, weatherstrip pulled back or masked. Wood doors are filled and sanded flat at this step.
- 3
Prime and paint
A bonding primer where the finish calls for it, then the first coat brushed into the panel edges and rolled on the fields with the door closed. The door goes up partway so the section joints and the bottom edge get coated too.
- 4
Second coat and reconnect
Second coat once the first has cured, usually the next morning. Masking off, hardware back on, the opener reconnected, and photos of the finished door in your job folder.
Situations and options
Steel door, factory finish still sound
The easy one. Washed, scuff-sanded so the new paint has something to grip, a bonding primer over the factory finish, and two coats of exterior acrylic. Rust at the bottom edge sanded to bare metal and primed before color.
Steel or aluminum door that chalks
Old factory paint breaks down into a powder that has to come off before anything will stick. Washed twice, rinsed, checked with a rag, and primed with a bonding primer that ties the remaining surface down. Then color.
Wood overhead door
Solid wood or wood-faced sections get filled at the checks and splits, sanded, primed with an oil-based primer and painted, or cleaned, sanded and restained with a penetrating exterior stain. The bottom rail gets sealed on all faces, because that is where a wood door rots.
Carriage style with windows and hardware
Windows masked, decorative hinges and handles removed and reinstalled or masked in place, the panel edges brushed and the fields rolled. More cutting in, which is why it prices above a flat door.
Garage Door Painting — Steel, Aluminum and Wood Overhead Doors: questions, answered
Can a steel garage door be painted?
Yes. A steel overhead door with a factory finish takes paint well once it is washed, scuff-sanded and primed with a bonding primer. The paint has to flex with the panels, so we use an exterior acrylic rather than an oil enamel. Rust at the bottom section is the one thing that has to be fixed first: sanded to bare metal, primed, then painted with the rest of the door.
How do you paint a garage door with chalky paint?
Chalk is the old finish breaking down into powder, and new paint over it peels in a season. We wash the door with a degreaser, rinse, and wash again until a clean rag comes away without white on it. Then a bonding primer ties down whatever is left before two coats of color. If the chalk never stops coming off, the door has reached the end of its finish and we say so before we paint it.
Should the garage door match the front door or the trim?
Either works, and it depends on what you want to notice. Painting the door the body or trim color makes a big door disappear, which is usually the right call on a house where the garage faces the street. Painting it the front door color makes the two read as a pair and works when the door has windows or carriage detail worth showing. Send a photo from the street and we will mark up both.
Can you paint a garage door a dark color in Minnesota?
Yes, with a caution. A dark color on a steel door pulls in heat on a south or west face, and an uninsulated steel section can bow when one side gets hot. Insulated doors handle it better. We check the door maker's color guidance for your door before spraying it charcoal or black, and a dark color over a light one gets a tinted primer so it covers in two coats.
Does the garage door come off to be painted?
No. The door stays on its tracks and springs; taking an overhead door down is a job for a garage door company, not a painter. We disconnect the opener, paint the door closed, and raise it partway to coat the joint between each section and the bottom edge. The opener goes back on when the paint is dry enough to move the door.
When can you paint a garage door outside in Minnesota?
From late spring into early fall, on days when the door surface stays above the paint's minimum temperature into the evening and rain is not coming that night. A door in direct afternoon sun gets painted in the morning so the paint does not flash off before it levels. We schedule around the forecast and tell you the day before if it moves.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and for the builders and dealers we sub for. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 26, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All painting pages
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