Help!! I love the look of rick dark wood door but can not afford it. I have double steel red door. My house is stucco white. Any suggestions as to how to paint the steel door to look rick and dark like the mahogany wood doors? Chocolate brown paint? Can I put stain on top of this to achieve more dimension and richness?

Also, I tried to increase insulation by sticking on those insulations pipes around my doors. They did not work and now left me with sticky glue residue. I tried to take them off using "goof-off". However, that also takes off the existing paint.
How should I prepare my door for new paint?

I don't know but awaiting some answers. I built a man-cave just beyond the house & my BF wants to paint the steel door to match our front door which is a deep rich dark mahogany.

Anhlycara, it's actually not difficult to achieve the look of wood with paint. You can find the techinque in a lot of books devoted to faux finishing. Start with a base coat of a medium brown. Then, dry brush the door in a darker brown. Then, dry brush the door in black. You can also use a graining tool which is available at Sherwin williams and Benjamin Moore stores. It takes a bit of practice, but it's not difficult. After the dry brushing is dry, coat the door with a coat of Minwas polyshade. It's a polyuearthane with stain built in. For a brown wood, use special dark walnut. For mahogany, use mahogany. After dry, rub with fine steel wool, and recoat. The poly shades come in several degrees of sheen. I find satin gives the most woodlike finish.

sorry, minwax, not minwas

There are these rubber stamp things specifically for making something look like wood I saw it on the martha stewart show you drag it and rock your hand at the same time then they used a glaze over it to make it look like stain. You would have to prime then paint the door in a brownish color first then use the rubber stamp thing then glaze it. Try googling wood grain stamp.

THANK YOU. NOW WHAT TYPE OF PAINT SHOULD I USE? EXTERIOR SEMI-GLOSS? DO I NEED TO USE GLAZE FOR THE BLACK PAINT?

ALSO WHAT SHOULD I DO TO PREP THE DOOR? I HAVE SOME GLUE RESIDUE FROM THE STICK-ON INSULATION. HOW SHOULD I REMOVE THAT? SHOULD I SAND DOWN THE OLD PAINT? IT IS A STEEL SIX PANEL DOOR. I'M WORRIED I WILL CREATE TOO MUCH SCRATCH.

HELP.
THANKS

Hi all...

Changing a metal or wood door from plain builder white into rich wood grained painted doors is one of the easiest projects I have ever done.

And... it looks real!

Pictures and How to are here:

Paint A Door Look Like Wood

I currently have red burgandy painted six panel steel door. there is no wood grain. I have glue residue from the insulation stick-on on the door. How should I prep the door for paint application. the paint on my door is 8 years old and is still in good condition except for the stick on glue area.

Since i'm going for the darker wood look i.e. mahogony, dark cherry, or anything in between. What should my paint be? I'm trying to make less work for myself. Can I use my existing red burgandy color as my base? and then use the umber glaze mixture?

The stick on glue stuff is a problem. Unless the door is clean and smooth those spots are going to show up no matter what you paint over them.

The red door color may be fine as an undercoat color. Some reds are just not bright enough. Because it is a burgundy I would say that you would have to paint a red undercoat just so the glaze topcoats don't drown out the red color.

You could try just using the glaze first on a small area. If it doesn't look right... wipe it off.

But if you do like it... you will have saved yourself a few hours.