The street “artist” who tagged your garage door is no Banksy and now you’re stuck with their madcap scribbling. Apparently, graffiti isn’t restricted to urban city centers!
And you’ve already fielded one passive‑aggressive comment from Bob, next door.
It’s time to do something about it… but what?
You could call a cleaning company that specializes in surface removal, but why not attempt a DIY fix? There are numerous cleaning products on the market to tackle this precise situation because you are not the first person to square off against a tagger. To help tackle the problem, here are some tips to get your garage door clean back to its old self—and get Bob off your back.
It’s all about the spray paint
What kind of paint did the tagger use? That’s the first issue. It could be water based or oil based. Some paints are more stubborn than others. Graffiti artists often use low‑cost paints which have the unintentional consequence of being easier to remove. If your door was tagged with a marking pen or any kind of permanent ink, the graffiti will be most difficult to remove and you could consider having the door repainted or doing it yourself.
What lies beneath
What type of paint is currently under the graffiti, across your entire door? That’s a key question. If your garage door was manufactured with a baked‑on paint, typically polyester‑based, it’s more able to resistant a good scrubbing and hold onto its original color and sheen. If your garage door was repainted in a paint shop by the company that sold you the door, make contact with them to determine what type of paint was used and how it was done. It’s also possible you painted it yourself in the past, and can find the paint can in the shed or downstairs.
Even professionally painted garage doors cannot hold out forever against the ravages of Mother Nature. Over time, every surface is punished by the elements. The older the door, the more wear and tear. Even if the exterior skin of a garage door has baked‑on paint, it will eventually succumb to the wind, rain, snow, sand and dirt. In other words, don’t expect a 20‑year‑old painted job to resist a wire brush soaked in harsh cleaning chemicals.
Start cleaning!
Your instinct may be to reach for the most abrasive cleaner you have and go ballistic on the graffiti. Please don’t. Start with a more gentle liquid cleanser, not powder. Try something you’ve already got stashed under the kitchen sink. Test it on a small area of the graffiti and see if it works. Resist the urge to use steel wool or any kind of nylon or wire scouring brush. If the liquid cleansers and a soft brush don’t work, then try something stronger with an abrasive agent (i.e. powdered).
Double down on the cleaning products
To “up your game” on the driveway, there is another effective item you most likely have in the bathroom. It’s acetone, a.k.a. nail polish remover. Be aware that this product is controversial from an environmental standpoint, but if you decide to use it, make sure to wear thick rubber gloves to protect your hands. Green activists will suggest using a mixture of white vinegar and lemon juice instead. As with any solution, it’s best to make a test on a small area of the graffiti and see if it is effective. Indeed, the vinegar and lemon juice mixture poses less of a risk of damaging your door’s original baked‑on paint.
While you’re rummaging around inside the house for products, look for a can of paint thinner. It’s typically used to clean oil‑based paint out of brushes, so it may do the trick with graffiti.
And what if you don’t have nail polish remover or paint thinner handy? Try some rubbing alcohol or methanol (wood alcohol). They may require more elbow grease, but they’ve been known to work.
Invest in professional-grade cleansers
At one point, if the graffiti isn’t lifting, it’s time to stop messing around with general cleansers. Take a trip to a paint store, where you should be able to buy a paint remover that takes between 25 and 30 minutes to work. It’s the same product that many public workers use to remove graffiti on metal road signs and construction materials. This is the type of product used by companies who specialize in removing graffiti.
In all of these cases, note that if you use abrasive or professional-grade products, you will most certainly damage the base coat of paint on your garage door. That means you must completely repaint your door to cover the damage.
Repainting: consult the color experts
Why go through hours of scrubbing off graffiti if repainting is possible? Few people enjoy wearing rubber gloves and sloshing around buckets of water, so applying a fresh coat of paint is an attractive option.
Don’t be a martyr. Eliminate the need to remove the graffiti by simply repainting the entire door. Before painting, however, it’s important to prep the surface by cleaning it to remove dirt, dust and grease. A primer is recommended to help cover the graffiti.
If your door is from Garaga or is a door with a similar surface, then refer to our website for the instructions you’ll need to repaint it.
Take advantage of this opportunity to coordinate your garage door with your front door. They can match, or complement each other. Most major paint manufacturers have a digital tool so homeowners can see what different exterior paint colors would look like on a similar home. When it comes to garage doors, designers caution against loud colors. Save those for your front door!
Can home insurance help?
Your home insurance may cover damage from graffiti, but it may also have a high enough deductible to make it pointless. Call your agent to hear their best advice.
Update your garage door
Now that you’ve been forced to pay attention to your garage door, you may be hit with the realization that the door is out of date. Is a makeover in the cards? If you live near Boston, contact us now at 1-800-545-3667. We provide prospective clients with a no‑obligation quotation by email.
We’d be pleased to meet you at our showroom. Come in to the Design Centre to pick out your favorite style of door. And take a look at our image gallery for inspiration.
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