Painting metal window-frames

[Stephen Gower]

We have metal-framed double-glazing. The metal is very hard, a not very shiny grey and magnets don't stick to it, so I assume it's aluminium not steel. Whoever painted and varnished the wooden surround to these in the past hasn't done a very good job, and has left us with brown paint/varnish stains on the metalwork that we can't remove. In any case, we'd prefer white than grey frames, so we'd like to paint them. What preparation should we do, and what paint should we use?

[aj]

U might want to try looking at the "international" paints range, hey have all sorts of paints for specialist applications, B&Q sell the range.

[nightjar]

How much do you want to pay and how long do you want it to last? I painted some aluminium guttering with a marine chromium dioxide self-etching primer and epoxy paint about 15 years ago and it still looks good. It was certainly not the cheapest system I could have used, but it has worked out to be the best value for money in the long term.

Colin Bignell

[Stephen Gower]

As little as possible, to last a few years. We'll probably sell the house in about a year, and if we don't, we'll probably replace all the windows instead. This is just to make the place look good for now.

[Michael Mcneil]

Obviously what worked for the previous owners will work for you:

Whoever painted and varnished the wooden surround to these in the past hasn't done a very good job, and has left us with brown paint/varnish stains on the metalwork that we can't remove.

By the way did you try paint remover on it? If you are going to paint it anyway you might want to consider saving it as a last ditch atempt for the sake of prospective buyers. Why ruin the job just so you can make a quick buck?

[Stephen Gower]

What the previous owners did stained the metal in in a blotchy fashion. They varnished the wood, but didn't protect the metalwork and splashed all over it. It does not look good. I don't think I can replicate what they did in a way that will look good, but I'm open to suggestions.

Yes. And heat, and elbowgrease - but whatever we try the metal frame is stained, and in any case is a dull grey that looks grim, and we'd like it to look good for the rest of its useful life.

It's not so I can make a quick buck, but so that the windows look nice. I'd like to live in a place that looks good, that's the point of most of the decorating I do.

The windows probably have a maximum of 5 years left before they need replacing anyway, so there's not a lot of point spending extra money on a job that lasts 25 years. So, what should we do to prepare the surface, and what paint should we use?

[nightjar]

Then wash well with sugar soap, paint with a metal primer that says it is suitable for aluminium and finish off with one of the one-coat gloss paints. After experiences with other makes, I only use Dulux paints for general decoration. If the sugar soap does not completely remove surface contamination (you can get nodules of hard white oxide on the surface of aluminum), you can lightly abrade it with fine wet and dry before applying the primer. Wet and dry is a silicon carbide abrasive and which you will need to remove aluminium oxide as that is itself an abrasive.

Colin Bignell

[Stephen Gower]

Thanks for this (and the rest of the advice)