How To Paint A Bilco Door
Rinse the doors well.
How to paint a bilco door. Two quarts should be sufficient to coat the entire door. For best results carefully follow the directions on the paint label and apply one thin coat of paint followed by a second coat on both the exterior and interior primed steel surfaces of the door. Bilco doors have a very high iron content and are prone to heavy corrosion quickly and frequently. Scrub the cellar door clean using mild detergent.
Bilco requires the use an exterior alkyd base enamel. The paint takes a long time to dry up completely. The paint is durable as well stick to the metal door for longer and protect from corrosions for years. If there is mildew or moss use a mixture of 1 cup of bleach to 3 cups of water or a commercial deck or siding cleaner containing mildewcide.
I use to call on them before they moved to ohio. Painting metal bulkhead doors by joe keegan on june 8 2011 at 11 13 pm old houses often had a set of bulkhead also called bilco doors which provided a large open access to the basement. If the doors are made from wood do this at least two sunny days before starting to paint to allow the wood to dry. Bilco was manufactured in west haven ct and the steel they used was low grade and the shop primer used for shipping purposes was very poor quality.
Our bilco door outside basement entrance door is in need of paint. You can apply it in every situation without giving a second thought. I pressure washed it about 16 shades lighter but there are numerous scratches and dings that have started to rust so i need to clean stabilize whatever those and repaint. Removing rust from a bilco basement door can be done in an afternoon.
Over time dings and damage to the basement doors can wear away the primer and allow rust to form on the surface of the door. Application of paints that are not.