repainting garage door

[lobserve]

I'm repainting my wooden garage door. I've scraped several layers of paint off and sanded it smooth. I disovered that there are hairline cracks in the wood panels that run up and down along the grain of the wood. These cracks also craked the old paint along the same lines (that's why I'm repainting in the first place). What can I do so that the wood cracks will not crack the new paint? The cracks seem too fine to fill but I haven't tried. Will a certain paint cover them "permanently?" Also, what is the best paint to use? Thanks in advance.

[mjpliv]

You should be able to fill them with a good, fine grained wood filler (spackle) and sand then prime/seal with the best exterior acrylic latex primer you can stand to buy ( I have never understood why people buy a cheap primer and cover it with top of the line paint - if the primer goes it takes the paint with it!). Use a good quality acrylic latex exterior paint for the final finish. A satin or finish is prefered because it will help hide slight imperfections in the door.

Why use latex? Because you will get a lot of moisture passing through the panels on any wood garage door. The water vapour can migrate through the latex paint without damaging it. If you use oil paint the moisture can build up under the paint caising blisters and peeling.