Painting a roller garage door and some UPVC windows – which method?

Would you spray, brush, or…well, roller them?

Which paint, 1k, 2K, something else?

Too many choices!

Who paints uPVC?  Isn’t “doesn’t require paint” their entire reason for existence?  Wash them or replace them.

I did my conservatory as follows

Wash down, degrease and sand. Wash again

2 coats zinser primer. The one specifically for upvc. I got it from Johnstons and got them to put a dark tint in to get nearer the top coat colour and also I was painting dark over the upvc white which is easier to see than white over white

2 coats top coat, Johnston acrylic as advised by shop guy.

I’m very pleased, after 4 years it’s looking great and has transformed the conservatory for very little cost.

Things to be aware of – any silicon on the upvc frames will throw paint off so you’ll have to remove it first, paint then re silicon

I used a brush but now I would use a small foam roller.

Who paints uPVC?  Isn’t “doesn’t require paint” their entire reason for existence?  Wash them or replace them.

The new windows are anthracite grey, the old (9y) are white.  I want them all grey so I don’t have to think about cleaning them again.  White looks dirty pretty quickly.

Window frames: brush

Garage door: apply by roller, laid off with a brush while still wet

Abrade with wet and dry 240 grit (wet) with a sugar soap solution. Wash down with clean water after.

3 paint choices. All water based. Each are good. I’ve used lots of each. Currently I’m in an BEDEC MSP phase. Zinsser All Coat and Bradite One Can are also very good.

Apply with a quality short pile roller (not foam)

Don’t paint if surface is hot or in full sun. Wait until it’s cloudy. Wipe area to be painted with a damp cloth immediately before painting. This helps keep a wet edge. 2 coats should do it. 3 coats if you have time and the paint.

Lambchop why pile and not foam roller please?

Also Lambchop – do those paints need a primer? I’ve offered to do our recently windowed elderly neighbours garage door. It’s an up and over, not roller.

It does look scruffy and I know she’s upset/anxious about the state of it. Looks like it’s galvanised steel and most of the paint has completely flaked off.

Not a fan of foam. Can get bubbles and also tram lines. A quality short pile, simulated mohair etc gives a great finish.

No primer required with the paints mentioned.

Careful with galvanized steel, it seems the expansion and contraction throws off paint pretty quicky. Seek advice.

I’d also picked out Zinsser Allcoat as a good choice.  It states that neither sanding nor priming is required.  It’s what I planned to use no matter which application method I chose unless someone could make a compelling argument for 2k with all the associated costs.

recently windowed

Bloody autocorrect, she’s lost her husband not had double glazing fitted.

Bloke up. All the paints mentioned will be okay on galvanised.

Daffy, Zinsser do Allcoat ready mixed in anthracite as lots of people are doing exactly what you are. Even B and Q sell it now. Definitely abrade and wash though. This will get any micro film off and is just basic good practice.

Who paints uPVC?  Isn’t “doesn’t require paint” their entire reason for existence?  Wash them or replace them.

Great to have money to waste eh.

Vote for zinssler did my old back door when I used it for the garage extension. Likewise the freebie uPVC “oak” window I used in the front of the same building.

Building up the courage to do my roller door. Will probably spray it though.

Another Zinser (sp) vote here – I bunged some on guttering, downpipes and some shocking mock-Tudor wood bits on our house in 2020 when we weren’t allowed out. The wood bits are beginning to look a bit bad, but all the plastic stuff still looks as new. And I really didn’t spend time on it at the time – it was meant to be a short-term tidy up and nothing more. Zinster stuff is spot on.

I also did my roller garage door with it (just brushed) – it looked fine (the whole door got replaced as the old motors failed and the engineer said it was time for garage door heaven).

Sprayed them with 1k water based Zinsser Allcoat exterior matte.  2/3 coats and came out great.

£225 all in, including the paint sprayer and a couple of small brushes.  12h. Most of that time was masking off the doors/windows/walls.

Looks good

Although not a painter, i have done a fair bit of finishing, and in the case of upvc, i would have though to apply any finish you would have to key the surface with a bit of sandpaper

Whilst Zinsser say you don’t have to, based on the very small amount I did with a brush, I would agree that keying the surface for UPVC would work better.  For spraying however, it’s remarkably effective.  Within minutes, it’s almost impossible to remove without a blade.  In a hour you’d need sandpaper.  Time will tell as to how good the surface adherence is, but initial impressions are excellent.

Take a look in skips at a local window/door manufacturer or fitters where you should find offcuts to practise on. That will at least tell you what adheres better.

And while youre at it you can pick a few brains as to what youre intending to do and what they think would be the outcome

What sprayer did you use?

This Wagner 590.  I considered renting a compressor and sprayer, but by the time I factored in cleaner and other things, this was cheaper and I got to keep the tool.  It’s very effective and was far, FAR better than I expected.  I’m not sure I’ll ever use a brush/roller again.

http://WAGNER W 590 FLEXiO Paint Spray… https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BUDJ6TG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Our door and frame from new were painted using Zinser primer and top coat.

It’s now 7 years old and looks brand new.

How to paint plastic and UPVC

With the new Allvoat, you don’t even need the primer – it’s self priming:

https://www.zinsseruk.com/product/allcoat-exterior-matt/

I should point out that this wasn’t about just changing colour.  I replaced some of the windows (all (but two) of the 1972 windows that were originally supplied with the house) with triple glazing to reduce our oil usage in the coming winter, but didn’t want to replace the DG windows which were installed just before we bought the place 10y ago.  I asked for the new windows in Anthracite, which left the job of matching the remaining windows, doors and garage door to the new windows and doors.  It’s a good match and for £225, well worth doing.

I should also do the soffits, gutters and barge boards, but I’d need scaffolding ALL around to do that and if I’m paying for scaffolding, the cost of parts for replacing the now 50y old ones, is probably worth doing.

This was how the back looked after the new window:

And the front both before and after the new windows and doors.  I couldn’t leave it like that – even with the coming darker days, my teeth were itching just thinking about it.

That looks really nice. The rest of the world has had anthracite UPVC or aluminium windows for years and I’ve always thought it made for a smart, clean building.

I put an anthracite roller door on our house last year, replacing a leaky wooden heap. One thing I’ve noticed is that when the sun gets on the door, the inside gets really warm. If that happens with the outside heat getting in, then it almost certainly happens in reverse, so the plan is to spray the inside of the door white, I’m also busy building a sliding Japanese style inner door out of wood and kingspan to see if I can reduce wastage further.

And the front both before and after the new windows and doors.  I couldn’t leave it like that – even with the coming darker days, my teeth were itching just thinking about it.

But the hedge and drive don’t make them itch………. :o)

Good work always wondered about the longevity in doing something like that, is it back to repainting every few yrs?

The hedge is having a tree planted where the hole is and the driveway is part of a much bigger project (£50k) that I’m saving up for.  Longevity.  Zinder suggest 5y min, but we’ll see.  We’re quite exposed to all kinds of weather here.

great job