Door hinges aren’t something we ever spend much time thinking about until we paint doors and are faced with the option of painting over the hinge or leaving it alone. If you need to decide whether or not to paint over your door hinges, this article will help you understand any potential pros and cons, so keep your paint lid tightly closed until you’ve learned everything you need to know about whether door hinges should be painted.
If you do not have the time to read the whole article, here is the short answer. You may also read till the end to understand clearly.
You can paint the door hinges for aesthetic reasons. But it’s advised that you should not do so as it will damage the mechanism and reduce the hinges’ lifespan.
What Are Door Hinges For?
When we think about door hinges, we typically think about functionality. Door hinges are the small metal plates fitted to both the door and door frame with screws, which allow the door to open and close. However, just because hinges are primarily functional, it doesn’t mean they can’t be stylish, and this may lead you to wonder whether you should paint over your hinges when you paint your door so that they match your decor.
Can I Paint Door Hinges?
Door hinges can be painted, but that doesn’t mean that they should! If you’ve bought a home where the previous owners have painted over the hinges, then you might think you have no choice but to paint over them again with your own color, but be warned that this can compromise the integrity of the hinges. Painting hinges can damage the mechanism and make the operation of your door less smooth, and the more layers of paint you add, the worse the damage will be. It will also shorten the lifespan of the hinges and mean they’ll need replacing sooner than usual. The short answer to this question is that door hinges should not be painted, and you should avoid doing so.
How to Fix Painted Hinges
If your hinges have already been painted, then the best thing you can do is remove them and install new hinges. If this isn’t an option, you can try to remove the paint by scraping it off or sanding it away with fine sandpaper, but this will likely result in the hinges becoming scratched, and you’ll have varying levels of success depending on how old the hinges are, how many layers of paint are on them, and what type of paint was used.
If this option doesn’t appeal either, then leave the hinges as they are and don’t add any further layers of paint, as this will prevent them from sustaining further mechanical damage. Choosing to paint your door in a similar color to the paint used over the hinges will help the hinges to blend in and create a seamless look that does not draw attention to the painted hinges.
Hinge Options
If you don’t like the look of your hinges, then you should replace them rather than paint them. There are a huge variety of options available today when it comes to hinges, which you can match to your interior color scheme, or choose hinges that blend into the color of the door for a seamless look. Hinges can be found in brushed matte or glossy finishes and are typically silver, gold, brass, copper, black, or white.
If you’re after a more unusual color of a hinge, there are numerous options online. The style of the hinge can also vary enormously, from ornate and decorative style hinges to industrial style hinges or sleek minimalist hinges. If you have a unique door color and you are set on having your hinges match, then you can buy hinges that are designed to cope with being painted. These hinges will have been primed and are ready for a layer of paint to go on top.
How to Protect Hinges while Painting
The best way to guarantee hinges will be kept free from paint while you’re painting your door is to remove the hinges, but this can make the simple job of painting the door much more complex and time-consuming. It can also create problems when you fix the hinges back onto the door as if they aren’t screwed in exactly the same as before, and then the door may not close properly.
If you haven’t fitted a door before, then you should leave the door hanging while it is painted and instead protect the hinges with decorator’s tape. Cut the decorator’s tape to size and carefully fit it over the hinges, as well as around the door handle, to ensure the paint is kept off of any hardware. If this method is too time-consuming and fiddly, you could apply decorator’s tape to the hinge and carefully cut it to shape while in situ with a Stanley knife.
Although protecting the hinges with tape can be frustrating and take as long as an hour, it is worth it to keep the integrity of the hinges intact and ensure the finish looks neat. When painting your door, take care around the decorator’s tape to prevent any paint from seeping in. Leaving your door hanging while painting it is not only the easiest method of painting a door, but it also means that you can paint both sides of the door in one go.
If you remove the hinges instead, you would have to lean the door against a wall or lay it on the ground while it is painted, and you wouldn’t be able to turn the door over to paint the other side until the first side of paint had dried. Door paint can take anywhere from 4 to 24 hours to dry between coats, so being able to paint both sides of the door at once will make a huge difference to the time you spend waiting for paint to dry.
Once the paint is dry to the touch and you have completed all of the coats, you can remove the decorator’s tape to reveal clean, unpainted hinges. High-quality decorator’s tape will not leave any sticky residue behind, but if this does happen, you can easily wipe the hinges clean with a cloth and soapy water.
