Painting Craftsman Doors

Originally I thought I would rent a sprayer to paint all seventeen doors in one fell swoop. But, in talking with the guy at local paint pro shop he suggested rolling the doors. A sprayer can consume a gallon of paint, just-in-the-hose alone! Additionally, they are going to throw paint all over so I'd have to remove much of the stuff in garage I didn't want to get paint misted. Then, there's the hassle of cleaning the sprayer, which seems like a huge pain. Lastly, prepping the doors for paint is what takes the most time and I only have two sets of saw horses.

So, rolling it is.

Setup:
In basement
Doors on saw horses
Benjamin Moore Regal Select (Pearl Finish)
50 Watt Cool White LED
~68F, 50% or more humidity

I got the four inch sponge-type rollers for the smoothest finish possible without spraying.

Process:

1. Install 5" lag bolts (5/16" I think) and place on saw horses
2. Remove hinges
3. Putty the exposed/bare end of doors with rockhard putty. Finding lot of knots so may take two or more fill/sands.
4. Use ready patch on the door seams (where stiles/rails meet) and at top where poor assembly resulted in the top rail not being aligned with stile. Also any dings and scuffed edges need to get patched
5. Lightly sand the door, all areas. Open window and turn on window fan to draw out this dust, which can be dangerous
6. Paint exposed wood with oil primer. Latex is probably fine here since it is an end grain and should not get raised by a water base
7. Paint the recessed areas of the door with 2" foam brush. Flip door and do other side
8. Roll the recessed surfaces
9. Roll the raised surfaces and the exposed edge (hinge and latch side) of door. This is tricky to work all surfaces while keeping a wet edge, even under these cool/humid conditions. For bathroom doors I'm going to also paint the top and bottom edge of the doors to seal them from humidity/water contact
10. Move to other door and do steps 8, 9. Return to first door, flip and steps 8, 9. Then second door, flip, and again steps 8, 9.

I've found it's very easy to get roller lines with these small rollers. I had to roll very lightly and evenly to minimize. It's hard even with a 50 watt light to see paint roller lines and areas of excess/insufficient coverage. The less paint on the roller, the smoother finish, but will take more coats.

Keep a wet edge. I found I can work from the bottom of the door and move up all three legs of the door so I don't get into a situation where one section has dried before I can make it around.

It's easy to get paint drips/buildup when painting the edge of the door. I run the roller on bottom and top of door edge to pickup any drips. Sanding drips with latex is problematic, especially before it has dried hard since it is rubbery and has a tendency to tear/rip/shred more than it sands.

Some imperfections are only visible until after the first coat. This is a pearl finish, so somewhat muted but it amplifies imperfections over the factory primer (flat). Some rockhams putty, or ready patch, if I have time to let it dry, then hit with a pass of the roller.

I'm storing the roller and foam brush in the refrigerator, in foil. I can get a lots of uses out of them this way. The only pain in cleanup is the roller pan, but it's not so bad. I use 48oz yogurt containers for the paint which makes it way easier to add to the roller pan, without the hassle of pouring from a gallon and removing paint from the lid area.