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I want to refurbish this exterior metal garage door, which is rusting because the previous owner had the sprinkler spraying the door. 🤦‍♂️

What kind of prep do I need to do before I paint?
What kind of paint should I use?

I also have a little bit of interior water damage around the base of the same door, and the main garage door too. Is there anything I can do to help rectify this situation?

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    Considering that doors like this have relatively thin sheet metal, I'm going to guess that removing the rust will leave pin-holes in the door which you will not want to leave there. So now you're going to have to fill them with "bondo" or some similar product. You might consider just replacing the entire door with a new one.
    – jwh20
    Jul 12, 2021 at 18:31
  • Product recommendation requests are off topic here. I've removed that question from your post.
    – isherwood
    Jul 12, 2021 at 19:03
  • @jwh20, the metal is roughly the same thickness as that of a car body. It's certainly repairable using auto body techniques.
    – isherwood
    Jul 12, 2021 at 19:03
  • Does any of the rust go all the way through the door skin?
    – Harper - Reinstate Ukraine
    Jul 12, 2021 at 20:54
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    Un-bend a paper clip and jab it into the darkest areas on the left/outside and right/inside and see if it is able to penetrate the surface. Or better pix would tell.
    – Harper - Reinstate Ukraine
    Jul 13, 2021 at 3:55

1 Answer 1

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  1. Sand rusted areas and apply rust primer to exposed areas (oil based, spray can)
  2. Fine sand rest of door
  3. Fill door indents with automotive 2 compound filler, sand smooth
  4. Paint entire door with exterior latex & foam roll or spray can
  5. Sand jamb, fill with same automotive filler or wood filler or leave it. Apply exterior latex paint.
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  • So made an instructional video that followed these steps. Thank you so much! Hopefully this buys me a few years! youtu.be/pG_3Nr0Mvto
    – FrancisJohn
    Aug 1, 2021 at 13:43
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    @FrancisJohn Yes, MIke, That's a great video. Good choice on the rust converter since it was more damaged than apparent from the pic above. You can also partially drive a screw through the door and grind off the head and tip, to help hold the metal cladding down. This saved you lots of $$$. I just did my door. Even cut out the window grill. Thanks for the feedback, as it's valuable to all readers.
    – P2000
    Aug 1, 2021 at 18:34

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