Transforming a Front Door with Miranol: A Step-by-Step Guide

We all know how important first impressions can be in any situation, from job interviews to first dates, from meeting a potential new customer to viewing what may be your dream home.

Think of your front door as your home’s interview suit!  It’s usually the first thing people see when they visit your home, and naturally you want it to make a great first impression.  While many front doors these days are either composite or made of uPVC (which can be painted, by the way, with the right prep and materials), older properties often still have traditional wooden doors, which take a lot of looking after to keep them looking their best.

It’s important to choose a paint which not only looks fabulous on Day 1, but carries on looking great and protecting your front door for years to come.  That’s why many decorators choose Tikkurila Miranol gloss, which provides a long-lasting, hard-wearing finish which will be the envy of everyone in your street

In this blog we’ll talk you though the process for renovating a front door, and we’ll find out a bit more about Tikkurila Miranol.

Why Choose Tikkurila Miranol?

While many decorators have now started using Tikkurila products, the “man in the street” often hasn’t heard of the Finnish firm, but I guess that will come in time. Speaking as a professional decorator, I’ve used their products on many occasions, and although I’ve barely scratched the surface of their vast product range, I haven’t been disappointed in the quality of any of their paints yet.

Miranol is one of the stars of the show. It gives a very high-sheen, mirror-like finish, designed to be hard-wearing and withstand everything the Finnish climate can throw at it.

Tikkurila Miranol – Product Specifications

• Available in Tikkurila’s vast range of colours, plus thousands of matches to competitor brands
• Suitable for interior and exterior wood and metal, from doors and windows to garden furniture
• Available in gloss finish only, in 1L, 2.7L and 9L sizes
• Application method: brush, roller or airless spray
• Coverage rate: 10 – 14m²/L, depending on the surface
• Touch dry after 3-4 hours, recoat after 24
• Solvent based – clean up with white spirit

How to Paint a Front Door

Tools & Materials You Will Need

• Dust sheets/floor protection
• Bucket of sugar soap or mild detergent solution, cloth
• Sandpaper of various grades (you can use a dust-free sander on the flat surfaces, but you will need to sand the detail by hand)
• Possibly a scraper
• Wood filler and filling knife
• Primer
• Paint brush
• Paint kettle
• Possibly masking tape
• Rubber door wedge

Protect the Area

Start by putting down dust sheets or other floor protection on both sides of the door (i.e. inside and out), to protect the flooring, front doorstep and anything else nearby that you don’t want to get paint on.  Wedge the door open using a rubber wedge, so that you have good access to all the surfaces you want to paint.

Door Furniture

Remove the door furniture and tape up the hinges to avoid getting paint on them.  If you are not confident cutting in next to the windows in the door, mask up there as well.

Clean the Door Thoroughly

Over the years, you will be amazed at the amount of dust, dirt, grime and pollution from the road that can build up on the outside of a front door.  A clean cloth and bucket of warm water with a dollop of Pretty Boy Brush Cleaner are your friends for this job.  Although originally designed for cleaning brushes, Pretty Boy is a mild but effective detergent that will cut through that grime and get your door prep-ready.

Abrade the Door

Remove any flaky or peeling paint with a scraper, and then sand the whole door thoroughly to remove any remaining flaky bits, to smooth the surface, to “feather in” any areas where layers of peeling paint have been removed, and to provide a key for new paint to adhere to – sanding will achieve a lot in a relatively short time, so it’s an important step in the process, not to be missed or given lip-service to.  Before moving on to priming the door, remove as much dust as possible with a dusting brush and tack cloth.

Apply a Coat of Tikkurila Otex

Prime the door to provide the perfect base coat for your gloss, and to provide adhesion to the old paint.   Tikkurila recommend their Otex primer for this type of job because it sticks to pretty much anything, and has the added advantage that you can tint it to the same colour as the topcoat, so it starts the process of building up the depth of the new colour.

Apply a Second Coat of Primer

The next day (to allow the primer to fully cure), fill any holes, dents, scratches, or any areas where the old paint has flaked away or peeled off.  Allow the filler to cure properly, sand it smooth, and then apply a second coat of primer – this ensures that the whole surface is primed and sealed to the same level, porosity is evened out, and the top coats will go onto a smooth, even surface. Once the second coat of primer has fully cured, give it a light sand with 240 grit sandpaper, dust off, and you’re ready for the star of the show!

Apply your first coat of Tikkurila Miranol

Following the manufacturer’s instructions, especially regarding recoat time, apply the first coat of Tikkurila Miranol.  This is not a “quick, one day project”; it takes multiple visits to the site over 4,5,6 days or even more.

Apply a Second Coat of Tikkurila Miranol

Lightly sand (using the finest sandpaper you can find, ideally wet and dry 1000 grade), and then apply your second topcoat.

Apply a Third Coat of Miranol if Needed

Not strictly necessary, but many decorators will then repeat the last step (i.e. apply a third coat).

Replace Door Furniture

Replace all the door furniture, remove any masking tape, stand back and admire!  It’s best to avoid too much heavy wear and tear in the first few days, to allow the paint to fully cure and harden.

Final Thoughts

Using Tikkurila Miranol (and Otex primer) to turn your tired old front door into the star of the street is not a five-minute job, and they’re not cheap bargain basement paints.  But it’s an investment in time and money to create that amazing first impression that we would all love our front doors to be, and in protecting and maintaining it for years to come. I’d say it’s worth every minute and every penny.