Refinishing Fiberglass/Plastic Doors

i have a customer who told me yesterday hes useing a citrus based stripper , says it smells like orange peels . you might try a google search on citrus strippers . meanwhile ill ask him for a product name as soon as i talk with him

My last house had a metal front door with plastic trim facing south in Maine. I added a storm door to help with heat loss and found out why there was never on put on before: a few weeks later (November IIRC) the sun melted the plastic trim! I ended up removing the trim, filled the holes with bondo, and painted the whole thing. I had no idea a storm door was going to cause so much trouble and expense.
Robb

If you can get the old paint off, with something like the Citrus stripper that Mr Trim is talking about, you can repaint(spray paint) it with light coats of lacquer paint. The paint will “melt” the plastic too, but if you use light coats, it won’t hurt it. That way the paint will really hold onto the door and should last for many years.

-- Tim - http://www.tmuli.com

Mr. Trim – I would like to find out what the citrus based stripper is. My first thought is to powerwash it to get the remainder of the “loose” material off. I’d like to try the citrus stripper also. I just don’t want to have to do all of this work to stain it, then end up painting it a solid color in the end. I’m open to any and all suggestions. I appreciate your comments so far.

im meeting with my customer at 6 tomorrow . ill get the name and post as soon as i get home

Citri-Strip is one of the brand names of the citrus based strippers.

-- Tim - http://www.tmuli.com

yes tim is right on . thats the name and my guy got it at the home depot

Mr. Tim…...Who would you hire to see if you can refinish a door? I think my door is fiberglass, but I am not 100% sure and it has many layers of paint.

yes you can refinish fiberglass doors . if your going to strip the old paint off be careful . some chemical strippers will soften the gelcoat . you might try the citri- strip

Okay, it’s done! After putting it off for two months I woke up on Saturday morning and decided to tackle this project. I want to start off by thanking all those who responded. I went to HD and bought the Citri-strip and a new wire brush (good quality, not the cheap wooden handle type). I put a coat of the stripper on about 1/3 of the door and crossed my fingers. After about 30 minutes I took the wire brush to it following the grain, and brushed the heck out of it. It didn’t look like it was working but it was. I took it outside and power-washed that section and it was perfect. Right down to the way it looked when it was new and before it was stained. I applied the stripper to the remainder of the door, waited about 30-40 minutes and wire brushed the rest of it. A few areas took 2 coats, but after power-washing it the door is like new. After a new coat of gel-stain it’s ready for the clear coat. It was easier and turned out better than I could have ever imagined.