Painting uPVC - ?

I've heard it's ok, this gives examples of surface prep/priming

Don't block any 'weep' holes

I've painted uPVC with gloss. No undercoat, just clean the surface well. Works really well.

Did the gloss cope with the typically sharper corners? Any noticeable difference in longevity, compared to painted wood?

Sadly, I've only ever painted pipes, so I wouldn't know - but my guess is it would be fine, since you get a nice thick film which adheres well.

Better. Much better. I don't think I ever repainted any external pipes on a wall whose windows had to be repainted every 2 years.

Indeed.

But I've yet to hear first hand reports of the results with water based gloss. My expectations are not high.

I've painted PVC waste pipes from the supplied grey to black - to match the rain water stuff. Oil based paint straight on - no undercoat. Has lasted better than paint on wood. A lot better.

Well dont use it then.

It's only ecobollox anyway.

Solvent based gloss? - not water based.

I've painted pvc with solvent based gloss (no undercoat) Recommendation: don't touch the surface after painting for at least 48 hours (ideally longer). I found the paint skin dried in 6 hours but was still somewhat soft beneath the skin for a considerable time longer. Do resist the temptation to wipe down the painted surface for a couple of weeks. My painted drainpipes have stood the test of time for at least a dozen years. They had one coat of white gloss and show no signs of flaking.

Dave Plowman (News) pretended :

Me too and black, a good 10 years and still all good.

Why not find oil based in the correct colour?

Or you could use an oil based primer designed for water based paints.

I have so far always used solvent-based paints on plastics and that would be my starting point again if need arose but some readers may not know that there is a difference and the preceding posts had not made clear which they recommended. So my purpose was (a) to flag that there is a difference and (b) see if anyone had experience of water-based gloss on uPVC.

Sorry for departing from the "I'm cleverer, and know more, than you - and voted the right way" model.

My experience of water based gloss is the gloss bit is a highly dubious claim. ;-)

Thing is the solvent based oil paint seems to etch into the PVC - hence the decent life and no primer. I'd be very surprised if water based did the same.

I'm not knocking water based as such. Painted the outside of the house with it last year, and will be interested to find out how it lasts on wood, etc. And staying much the same colour as when new might be a plus.

Often depends on the colour. Dark colours tend to crack.

Black certainly does. maybe its expansion differences with heat. I'm afraid unless you have a UV reflective undercoat, you are going to have to suck it and see. Brian

With the old solvent based gloss, the solvent dissolves into the PVC surface so that's about as good a bond as it's possible to get (which is why you didn't want any undercoat on PVC).

I haven't painted any since the high volatiles paints vanished. Indeed, last time I bought gloss, I got the chap in the shop to reach right to the back of the stock shelf, and get me the last tin of high volatiles paint they had, but that was some years ago.

Following a suggestion from a builder I did some downpipes and gutters using Sadolin Classic. To my surprise it seemed to go on OK and last reasonably well - albeit this is in sheltered locations London and lowland Suffolk (not near the sea). I mention it mainly because AFAICS Sadolin Classic is still largely white spirit.

If you really must, I would mask off the area and use car spray paint, assuming you can get a suitable match. Cars have colour-matched bumpers so car paint must be ok for external use. Also avoids the brush marks.

But since then the EU have forced VOC 2010 on us, so todays oil-based paints might not last so well. Time will tell.

I was in Jewsons last year and they still had High VOC paints in the professional ranges.

Doesn't that require special primer?