Can you paint an aluminum sliding glass door?

I have five sets of aluminum sliding glass doors, each 6' wide that opens into an interior courtyard. They are all bronze in color.

I am wondering if it's possible to paint them white?

If not, is it economical to order all new metal parts in white (basically replace everything except the glass) or it's not worth it as the labor cost to take apart reassemble is prohibitive and may be more than just replacing the entire door?

Thanks in advance,

MC

Reply to
MiamiCuse
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You can paint them, but the finis is not as good as the factory baked on, of course. As for replacing the metal parts, it would probably be cheaper and easier to just replace the doors.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Do you have air and a spray gun? If not you are probably not going to get a good result. I have some experience painting aluminum boats. The real trick is the primer. Go to a store that specializes in auto body paint and get the

2 part etching primer. This is nasty stuff, use a real respirartor when you shoot it. This will cut through the oxide and give your paint a good bite. Then shoot a couple coats of a polyurethane fortified enamel on them and they will last for years. This still won't be as nice as the powder coating you get from the factory but it is pretty tough.

You will have to remove the hardware and take your time masking the glass.

If you really have to do this with spray cans go to a boat store and get zinc chromate primer and use the best enamel you can find in a spray can. You should still be using a respirator, especially with the zinc chromate. The other paints are not very heatthy either.

Reply to
gfretwell

One fundamentally sound source of aluminum painting materials and techniques is the aircraft industry. There are aircraft supply firms that cater to amateurs typically members of the Experimental Aircraft group. They have products that have been around for years. The techniques can be quite demanding as the products are not your usual idiot proof stuff meant for consumers, so don't expect a miracle with little work. The end result ought to be very good, though... come to think of it, most commercial aircraft look rather spiffy. HTH

Joe

Reply to
Joe

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