Our Garage Door Makeover – I’m so thrilled to share with you guys this DIY project. It’s been on my to-do list for about a year. Our garage door faces east and has been sufficiently baked over the years and was begging for a makeover. So I decided to give it an update using stain… yep… gel stain! The results were even better than I had hoped for. For less than $20 and a few hours of work we had a gorgeous faux wood garage door.
Garage Door Makeover
Here’s a little video about our garage door makeover… {affiliate links included for your convenience, you find read more here}
Gel Stain Garage Door Makeover Supply List:
- Power Washer
(optional but makes it SO much easier) - Gel Stain
- We used this Walnut Stain
- Paint Brush
(optional but makes it SO much easier)
Here’s our sad garage door as it was getting a good power wash…
You can see it was a very faded brown from all that heat on the metal door. If you don’t have a power washer I’d recommend cleaning it well with your hose and then giving it a good cleaning with vinegar and a sponge and finish with a good rinse.
The Hubster used a cheap synthetic brush and worked one section at a time brushing on the gel stain in the direction of the pattern in the door. The gel stain dries super quick, so I would recommend taking on this project when the weather is pleasant and when the garage door isn’t in the direct sunlight.
Here we are halfway finished. Now gel stain is NOT like regular stain. You are not letting it sit and minute and then wiping it off!!! . You paint on the gel stain and let it dry… that’s it… super simple!
And all finished! What an update!
I love the deep rich brown… it almost looks like faux wood!
We only used one coat of gel stain to achieve this gorgeous look. If your garage door is a different color than brown it might take more than one coat to achieve the color you’re looking for…. but wow… what a difference! It took the Hubster about 3 hours total to get this great garage door update… so it’s a great weekend project!
I’ve had lots of questions regarding a white or off white garage doors. My recommendation would be to try the gel stain in a small area in the corner of your garage door and see how it looks.
The quart of gel stain was about $15 and we used two brushes… so for under $20 bucks we got this awesome garage door update!
UPDATE: We used Gel Stain on our front door – you can read all about it here:
GEL STAINED FRONT DOOR
Another Update – Our Gel Stained Garage Door One Year Later
(almost 4 years now and still going strong)
Here’s some other great DIY you might want to check out…
With outside wall the garage door paint color looks outstanding 🙂 what color you used in door ? thanks for sharing
Great idea, just tried some panels on my garage door
Wow! I gotta say I loved the outcome of the garage! <3 So you washed it down first and THEN painted it ?? Did you use anything other than the gel ??? And how many times did you paint over ???
Thanks, Marj
It’s gel stain, not paint and we use 1 coat.
Did my garage door last summer. After a brutal upstate NY winter,still looks beautiful!!! Thank you, thank you ,thank you.!!!!!!
Love hearing that Maria! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this feed back about winter.
I’m in the process of using Minwax gel stain on front door, one cost done but will need two. However, you didn’t mention using a protective polyurethane as recommended on product? After talking with a Lowe’s employee he fully recommended as to protect from weather, especially direct sunlight. Because it is a stain and not an exterior paint. You garage door looks fabulous!
This looks really great! I love how it really does look like wood and it looks extremely durable. Thanks for sharing!
Not sure how long ago you did this – but I would be interested in a follow up story – and photos of how your project has held up after a season of beating sun….. in other words = How well does this last over time?
It looks awesome, and I have a home I am preparing to update (10 years of renters have had a toll, but we want to move back in soon!)
Just not wanting to RE do this in a year or two….
was amazing, the banister of my wood is pretty ugly also does is good technique is applying? I think I will do the same. thanks for sharing!
Would this work on a stair rail? Ours is golden oak and we are installing dark floors.
I haven’t tried it personally, but I’ve seen others who’ve used gel stain on their stair railing. I’d think you’d need to sand it to get rid of any shine so the wood could absorb the gel stain. I’d suggest trying it in an inconspicuous spot and see what you think. Good luck!
We tried gel stain on our banisters. Did not work. We had to sand them due to the previous finish. We then used black gel stain. Right after we had the hardwoods refinished and the guys put poly on the rails when they did the floors. Has held up great 4 years later.
It works fantastic. I used a rag (over a rubber glove) and just wiped it on, a little too heavily, best to go lightly at first, you can very easily do touchups, just wipe in right direction. I did not sand, maybe should have lightly, however gel stain did stick. On the bannister, it is wearing off a bit, just dabbed a bit more on. Not a big problem, probably should seal it, maybe later. I re-stained the inside, med-oak, orangey doors too, hated them, but did it in “streaks”, looks more like real woodgrain. Love this stuff.
So creative and looks great! Has the gel stain on the garage ‘aged’ well?
I wasn’t able to pull up the comments and see that you did comment on how it has aged. Thank you!!
I”m really curious how it has aged as well. I live in Iowa and wonder how it will weather.
Hi Erin – It’s been 2 years since we did this and it’s still holding up great!
I’d like to stain my door so this guide has given me some helpful information as to how I can go about that. I like the pictures you included with the steps, its very helpful for seeing how to go about staining. Thanks for the useful garage door tips.
Is your garage door itself made out of wood or metal or some other material? I just want to make sure this will work on ours, which I believe is a metal base.
I too am interested in what her door isn’t made of!
Painting your overhead garage doors can really make them look new again. I would love to paint my garage door soon and freshen up the outer appearance of my home. I am glad to know that painting your door is really not that costly.