Painting Upvc

[Random Orbital Bob]

Is it feasible/sensible and if so what kind of paint would you use?

I've just got finished glossing the woodwork frames on my garage door's and above them is a decorative brick into which is set a fill in crescent moon shaped piece of Upvc which when juxtaposed against the newly painted woodwork...looks yellow and tired. Ideally, I'd like to give it a lick of pure white to tidy it up. Obviously one of the key benefits of pvc is zero maintenance, however in this case I'm happy to paint it if it's possible.

 

[RobinBHM]

Ive not tried it myself, but believe this stuff is a suitable primer:

http://www.sandtex.co.uk/products/sandtex-pvc-u-primer/

 

[sunnybob]

cut another piece and glue it over the old one.

 

[Arron]

I looked into this heavely for a project I am currently doing, have a look at the kolourbond website.
Whilst I haven't used it yet, it is supposed to be the better of the paints for upvc applications and requires very little prep work.

The drawback is it's £22 a can delivered

Arron

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Thanks folks

 

[Flynnwood]

Bedec Multi Surface paint

 

[thick_mike]

Very difficult to put a durable coating on uPVC, it's packed full of antioxidants that migrate to the surface. It's like painting soap. If it's just decorative, you might be ok, but if it's anything that gets handled or rubbed I don't know of anything.

Thoroughly cleaning the surface prior to painting is really important.

 

[No skills]

Maybe try cleaning it up with a bit of solvent before going the paint route.

 

[Droogs]

Try using an etching primer like that used for plastic car panels. it bonds to the surface and gives a good key for the following paint layer

 

[ED65]

Can you key the surface by lightly sanding it Bob? Even plastics that don't naturally take primer well can be primed more successfully if there's enough texture for a good mechanical bond.

There is actually a possibility you can sand to below the tired yellowish layer, same way that clouded old lens covers on cars are sanded and buffed back to like-new condition.

 

[banjerbill]

Before you go down the painting route I would try solvent uPVC cleaner (about £3 from Eurocell). It has always made a big difference when I have used it.
Bill

 

[morturn]

I have painted lots of Upvc gutting and downpipes with ordinary oil based gloss paint, seems to work fine.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I'm doing our house at the mo - a LOT of masonry paint as we have horribly deep pebbledash. Like yours this is making the uPVC look dull and grey, so after some advice here and experimentation, I have now got a three-stage process for the uPVC:

1. Solvent to get rid of the worst yellowing.
2. cream cleaner - lifts any smuts, etc.
3. Finally polish with Mer (car polish) - leaves the surface shiny and slippery so it doesn't pick up dirt again too quickly.
The solvent on its own leaves a matt finish.

White masonry paint does stick to it pretty well (unfortunately!). So if you do want to paint it, that seems accursedly durable :-(

HTH,

E.

 

[rafezetter]

I have painted lots of Upvc gutting and downpipes with ordinary oil based gloss paint, seems to work fine.

and how many times have you gone back three years later to look at it?

I used to sell these products for over 10 years, and gloss paint only ever looks good for the first year, ok for the second, very shoddy for the third and by the forth it's peeling off on it's own.

R.O.B - what you are describing sounds like "pinking" where the additives in the upvc mix are bleeding out, it's permanent and goes all the way through the upvc so even a proprietory upvc solvent cleaner won't touch it. You can try obviously, a bottle of that is handy for all sorts of things - BUT WEAR GLOVES!! or you'll regret it after several hours exposure to the skin - sickness and vomiting.

If you intend to paint, acid etch will help a lot, plus there are spray paints used in the automotive industry for recoloring interior panels for custom cars, designed to properly flex with the plastic, no idea of the name. They are acrylic iirc, but no idea if they have a more elastic formula than car exterior acrylic spray paint.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Thanks again folks. Some very interesting input there. Most grateful

 

[curtisrider]

I got some UPVC cleaner from B&Q and it transformed my tired out windows into a gleaming white

 

[morturn]

I have painted lots of Upvc gutting and downpipes with ordinary oil based gloss paint, seems to work fine.

and how many times have you gone back three years later to look at it?

Everyday actually, its what I did with the gutting and downpipes on my own house, on the back of a whole working lifetime in the construction industry.

Most exterior painting starts to look a bit dull after three to four years anyway, more so now that paint is lead free.