Exterior painting
Repainting front doors and shutters around Atlanta
Is the front door the first thing that looks tired? We sand, prime and enamel entry doors, storm doors and shutters so the front of the house holds up to a close look.
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Updated October 2026
Short answer
Front door and shutter painting in Atlanta comes down to prep: dulling old gloss, filling dents and priming bare wood or steel before enamel. Fixr's national figures put a standard exterior door at $112 to $205 per side, and Angi lists $125 to $600 for professionally painted shutters. One call puts a visit on the calendar.
Why the front door and shutters wear out before the siding
A front door takes more wear than any wall on the house. Hands, keys, pets and a slamming storm door rub at the finish, and a door facing west bakes every afternoon. Shutters fail differently: rain sits in the louvers and on the top rail, so paint cracks there first.
We take hardware off, sand wood smooth, prime bare spots and finish in an exterior enamel that dries hard. Shutters come down when their fasteners allow, so the backs and edges get paint and the siding behind them can be painted too.
Choosing between options
Gloss, satin or stain: picking a finish for an entry door
The finish sets both the look from the street and the upkeep.
| Compare | High-gloss enamel | Satin enamel | Stain and clear coat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Look | Deep shine, richest color | Soft sheen, calmer | Wood grain shows |
| Shows flaws | Every dent and brush mark | Hides small dents | Shows old filler |
| Best on | Smooth steel or fiberglass | Older wood doors | Solid wood or grained fiberglass |
| Upkeep | Scratches stand out | Touch-ups blend in | Clear coat renewed sooner in full sun |
What drives the price
Pricing doors and shutters by the piece
Doors and shutters are priced by the piece, not by square footage.
Published range: $112 to $205 to paint one side of a standard exterior door. Source: Fixr, national figures, January 2025. A planning figure, not our quote.
Number of pieces
Each door, storm door and pair of shutters is its own round of prep.
Door material
Steel needs dents filled and rust treated; wood needs sanding and primer.
Glass
Sidelights, transoms and multi-lite doors take careful masking.
Shutter style
Louvers take far longer than flat panel or board-and-batten shutters.
Color change
A big jump in color, light to dark or back, can take an extra coat.
Front doors
Entry doors are usually steel, fiberglass or solid wood, and each one takes paint differently. Steel dents and rusts along the bottom edge, so we fill dents with a filler made for metal and spot-prime any rust. Fiberglass gets a light scuff and a primer made for slick surfaces. Wood gets sanded through old brush marks, and we seal the top and bottom edges too, because bare end grain drinks water and makes a door swell and stick. Knobs, kick plates and deadbolt trim come off or get masked.
Shutters
Louvered wood shutters are the slowest to do well, since every slat has two faces and two edges, and paint fails first along the top rail. We take them down, clean and scuff them, prime bare wood and finish them flat on sawhorses so paint reaches every slat. Vinyl can be painted, but dark colors can warp it in strong sun, so we use colors made for vinyl. A split or rotted shutter often costs less to replace than to rebuild.
Storm doors and sidelights
A storm door shields the entry door and often wears the worst finish on the porch: aluminum frames that chalk, steel ones rusting at the sweep. Aluminum is cleaned, scuffed and primed with a bonding primer; steel gets its rust treated first. Sidelights and transoms are mostly glass inside narrow frames, so the time goes into masking each pane and cutting a straight line along the glazing. If the glazing putty or the seals around the glass have cracked, we point it out before painting over them.
Entry doors here usually get Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore exterior enamel, Fine Paints of Europe when you want a true high gloss, and Sikkens on stained wood.
- Sherwin-Williams
- Benjamin Moore
- Fine Paints of Europe
- Sikkens
- Behr
- PPG
- Valspar
- Zinsser
Around Atlanta
Older DeKalb doors and the paint layers they carry
Census survey data for the DeKalb County school district area shows 26.5% of homes built before 1970 and 49.2% built between 1970 and 1999. On houses that age, the front door and shutters have usually been painted many times, and thick old coats blur the panel edges and crack where rails meet stiles. On those doors we sand back the failing layers first, so the panels look crisp.
How long your front door stays open while the paint dries
A front door has to close and lock at night, and fresh enamel sticks to weatherstripping if the door shuts too soon. So we paint entry doors early in the day, keep them propped open while the coats set and have them closing cleanly by evening. Shutters can stay down overnight and go back up once their paint has hardened.
How the job runs
From hardware off to a door that closes cleanly
Look at every piece
We check each door and shutter for dents, rust, rot and loose fasteners.
Remove and protect
Hardware comes off, shutters come down, floors and glass get covered.
Sand, fill and prime
Old gloss is dulled, dents are filled and bare wood or metal is primed.
Enamel in thin coats
Brushed or sprayed, with dry time between coats.
Rehang and test
Hardware goes back on, shutters are refastened and the door is checked for sticking.
Questions
Front Doors & Shutters questions we hear in Atlanta
Pick a color that contrasts with both the brick and the mortar; sample boards help.
Yes. It gets a light scuff and a bonding primer, then exterior enamel. Grained fiberglass can be stained instead.
If you want it. Many people match the inside face to their interior trim.
If they are sound, painting costs less. Cracked, warped or brittle shutters are better replaced.
Yes, it is a common update between full exterior repaints.
It can, though one in the trim color lets the entry door stand out.
Same kind of work
More exterior painting
Exterior House Painting
Siding, trim and brick for ranch and two-story homes.
Brick Painting & Limewash
Mineral paint, limewash or German smear on brick.
Wood & Fiber Cement Siding Painting
Fiber cement, cedar and hardboard lap siding.
Vinyl & Aluminum Siding Painting
Vinyl-safe colors on faded vinyl and aluminum.
Ready when you are
Thinking about a new front door color?
Our phones are answered day and night. Say how many doors and shutters need paint and the color you have in mind, and we will come see them.