My husband and I have talked about restoring our garage door for years, and this past week we finally bit the bullet and started undertaking this huge project. Andrew had a day off last Thursday, and halfway through the day he sent me a picture of the beginnings of the paint removal process. He had recently purchased a pressure washer, and after he had finished pressure washing the driveway, he started testing a spot on the garage door. When the paint began simply peeling away, he knew it was time to attempt this project.
Our garage door is the original door to the house when it was built over 30 years ago. It is solid wood, and I have been curious to see what shape the wood is in since we moved in five years ago. Instead, the garage door was left in its ugly shade of dark brown paint while we tackled more pressing house projects.
As we have been slowly making progress on removing the paint from this door, we have discovered that the wood is actually in great shape, and it’s beautiful cedar. Initially we thought we would have to stain the door a dark stain to hide the imperfections and possible water damage that it has incurred over the years. Instead, it looks like we may be able to use a light stain to simply bring out the natural beauty in this door.
What we thought was a temporary fix until we could purchase a new, more energy-efficient door may have just become a permanent fixture of the outside of our home. I am so happy that we could save the original character of our home with just a few hundred dollars and some elbow grease. I am so proud of my husband and his ability to be able to restore such a hidden gem, and his patience and willingness to listen to my suggestions. I cannot wait to finish this door; the curb appeal it is already adding to our house is unbelievable.
a life well loved 