A Colored Door Accents your Pennsylvania Home

You may not know it, but the front door of your home holds enormous historical importance, especially here in Pennsylvania. For the early settlers who traveled to Southeast Pennsylvania and founded many of our townships, a red door signified that a home or inn was a welcome place to stay for the night. It’s even said that a red door was a signifier for stops on the Underground Railroad; it indicated that a home was open to runaway slaves. A red front door holds equal gravity in international culture. It’s considered good luck in China, and in Scotland it signified that the homeowner’s mortgage was paid. Even Albert Einstein had a red front door!

No matter what color you prefer for your door, you should take care to keep it well-loved and freshly painted throughout the years. The last thing you need to come home to after a long day at work is a door wracked by wood rot, peeling around the edges. Whether it’s a bright, lucky cherry red, or a stately forest green, a dignified door welcomes you back home each day with positive energy. These professional tips from Nolan’s team of painters and color professionals can help you find the perfect look for your front door and set the tone for the rest of your house.

How Often Should I Repaint?

Your front door sees it all: bright sun that fades paint colors, winter snows that can instigate wood rot – it even gets the brunt of the daily wear and tear as you go in and out. Homeowners with pets may even see pock-marks and grooves where their dog or cat has clawed away at the front door. Bottom line, your door is going to require some maintenance over the years. Generally, we recommend repainting your front door every seven to ten years. Of course, if you’re planning to sell your house, you want it to be fresh. A newly painted front door can really amp up your curb appeal.

Fortunately, paint formulations are always improving, and the new acrylic enamel door paints won’t fade like the older enamels. The new products hold color remarkably well and will need to be repainted less often. If you have a natural stain or varnish, though, you’ll need to refinish it more frequently. In fact, a stained door could require annual maintenance if it’s getting a lot of sun exposure. To refinish a stained door, Nolan’s team will sand off the old stain, then restain and re-varnish the surface.

Planning a Day For Your Door

Before Nolan’s painters refinish a door, we’ll assess and possibly sand and prep to repaint. Every door is a little different, so the preparation could vary depending on the existing finish and the amount of wood damage your door has. You can usually paint a door in a few hours if there’s not much prep, but it’s important to choose a day with good weather for door painting.

Along the Main Line and surrounding suburbs, doors need to be painted in the spring or fall when the temperatures are moderate. When we paint the door, we leave it on the hinges. It can’t be shut because it will stick to the weather stripping, so you need to be comfortable leaving the door open for a few hours (that means no rainy days)!

Color Inspiration from our Consultants

The Main Line style is distinctive. Our houses tend to have strong exterior features such as elaborate trim, shutters, and stonework that give the façade a lot of personality. Fortunately, these features also tend to play nicely with a colorful door. In recent years, our team has seen green exterior color schemes enjoy popularity among local homeowners for the color’s welcoming feel and versatility. A green house is beautifully accented by a dark, almost ebony door, a bold red, or a crisp white. For a stone exterior, a green or red can be an opportunity to add a splash of color in an otherwise neutral palette.

For many homeowners, choosing the right color for the front door is their biggest concern for their exterior renovation. At Nolan, our experienced color consultants can guide you toward the perfect hue. Our award-winning team of painters and color professionals has been partnering with homeowners along the Main Line and Bucks County since 1979. If you’re ready to repaint your front door, contact us today for a consultation!