How To Paint Exterior Aluminum Window Trim

• Painting

So, You Want to… Pigment Your Window Trim

In any painting project, investing in the right paint and tools will go you the most professional results, and painting window trim is no exception. The payoff volition be well worth the actress intendance and (ordinarily) slight expense. After all, make clean, crisp window trim can really brand or pause the await of a room—or of your home's whole exterior.

Photograph: istockphoto.com

This content has been brought to you by Hyde Tools. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.

Whether you accept just installed a new window or you're updating your home's colors, indoors or out, your project will most likely involve painting window trim. After all, how better to accentuate the new wait than with crisp lines and fresh color? Painting the molding around the windows doesn't take to exist a difficult chore. As with most pigment jobs, getting a professional wait—without making a mess—starts with the right tools and techniques. With a niggling help from the pros and high-quality products from Hyde Tools and Richard Tools, you lot tin have great-looking window trim in no time.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS Bachelor on Amazon
– HYDE Black & Silvery six-in-ane paint scraper (available at hydestore.com)
– HYDE Caulk Assist remover and applicator (bachelor at hydestore.com)
– Sandpaper
– Allpurpose degreasing cleanser
– Cleanser with mildewcide
– Paintable caulk
– HYDE 11-½-inch Mini Guide™ Paint Shield & Smoothing Tool (available at hydestore.com)
– Richard Tools' Mini Master Touch Series Angular Paintbrush (available at hydestore.com)
– HYDE 9mm Snap-Off Bract Utility Pocketknife with thirty-Degree Blade (bachelor at hydestore.com)
– HYDE Glass Scraper with 5 Blades Stored in Handle (bachelor at hydestore.com)

Lucifer THE PAINT TO THE PROJECT

For both interior and outside trim, y'all'll probably want to choose a paint with a sleeky finish. These paints class a durable finish that repels dirt and grime better than flat paint, and they're easier to wipe clean, besides.

The specific blazon of paint needed, however, depends on your trim's material. Window trim tin can exist made from wood, vinyl, aluminum, or steel, and at that place's no single coating that works with all. If you beginning with just any quondam tin of pigment, you could risk seeing the results of all your hard work chip off within the twelvemonth. Choosing a paint that'southward uniform with your type of trim will assistance attain results that last.

Photo: hydestore.com

• Wood is the most mutual material used to trim both interior and outside windows, and y'all won't have any problem finding a good-quality pigment. For exterior wood trim, cull a premium exterior gloss paint, either oil or acrylic. For interior woods trim, choose a loftier-quality latex gloss paint.
• Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF) is becoming a popular material for interior window trim because it'south easy to install and resists moisture impairment. The same pigment used on interior wood (loftier-quality latex gloss paint) tin exist used on MDF trim.
• Vinyl is usually reserved for the exterior of a house and paired with vinyl siding. Its impermeable surface won't hold standard paint; those suggested above would eventually pare off. Instead, expect for an exterior gloss paint specifically fabricated for vinyl.
• Metal trim is likewise typically constitute on a domicile'southward exterior and paired with metallic siding. Cull an exterior gloss paint labeled for use on metal. Some of the best metal paints contain rust-resistant chemicals that will aid foreclose rust from forming on your trim.
• If your window trim is unfinished, you'll get the best paint adhesion if yous apply primer before painting. Like the pigment you choose, the primer should be compatible with the type of trim y'all're painting.

Plan ACCORDINGLY

If y'all're painting interior window trim, just about any fourth dimension is the correct time to start this pigment job. There'south less flexibility, however, for scheduling a pigment task on exterior trim. Check the conditions forecast and choose a day when the temperatures volition stay betwixt 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Hotter than that, and the paint tin can dry too rapidly, which tin touch on the quality of the finish. You lot'll also want to pick a day without rain or wind. No matter how careful yous are, painting on a windy mean solar day will atomic number 82 to unwanted spatter on your home's siding.

Photo: homedepot.com

THE IMPORTANCE OF PREP

While many a practise-information technology-yourselfer would similar to get straight to the main event—the painting—the finished project will be only equally proficient as your prep task. Be sure to have time to set the surface to accept the new paint.

1. Offset, scrape abroad whatsoever peeling paint. Go over the onetime window trim thoroughly with a paint scraper like Hyde Tools' Black & Argent half dozen-in-i Paint Scraper, considering whatsoever remaining loose pigment will cause the new pigment to peel off. Of course, if y'all're painting new or unfinished trim, y'all tin can skip this pace—it's merely necessary for trim (of whatever blazon of material) that has peeling paint.
2. Remove hardened caulking.On older windows, the semisolid sealant that fills the seams betwixt trim boards volition, over fourth dimension, become brittle and pull away from the trim. (If you've only installed your window, you won't accept this trouble; skip ahead!) Y'all can try scraping it out with the edge of the 6-in-1 paint scraper or a metal putty knife, only you'll accept ameliorate luck with the Caulk Aid from Hyde Tools. Made from loftier-affect plastic, this hand tool is designed so you can remove old caulk with i end and use fresh caulk with the other. Kickoff with the beveled blades to quickly shave abroad former caulking from the sides of a seam; the precipitous betoken can dig stubborn caulking out of corners.
3. Wipe down the trim. Once you've removed any loose paint or brittle caulk, brand sure your trim is free of dust and dirt that would impede paint adhesion—this goes for existing trim also as newly installed trim. As with paint, the cleanser of option depends on the trim type. On interior woods and MDF, too equally vinyl trim, employ a household degreasing cleaner. On exterior wood, choose a cleaner that contains a mildewcide to protect the woods against potential mold and mildew growth from exposure to wet. On metal trim, work with a rust-removing cleanser.
4. Sand trim smooth. No thing the blazon of trim, if it's been painted once earlier, first with a 150-grit sandpaper to smooth away any edges where that old layer of paint flaked to reveal the blank surface. And then, switch to 220-grit sandpaper to fine-tune the surface. If you're painting unfinished new trim, apply merely the 220-grit sandpaper to scuff the trim enough for the pigment to adhere.
5. Apply new caulk to the exposed seams.For caulking to efficiently seal the seams and gaps in window trim, it needs to exist practical and smoothed into the crack. To achieve a professional-looking end, run a bead of caulk in the seam (1/8 inch is ordinarily sufficient) then employ the flexible padded tip on the Caulk Aid (on the end contrary its scraper) to smooth out the bead. The tool makes it simple: Start at one finish of a seam and, with gentle pressure, pull the Caulk Assistance to the other end. If caulk builds up under the padded tip, only wipe it clean on a rag and continue to the finish of the seam.

Photo: hydestore.com

PAINT Like A PRO

It's time to paint! For unfinished trim, you'll demand to apply a coat of primer before the paint, using the following method for each awarding. For previously painted trim, y'all can get-go with your starting time coat of paint.

Instead of taping off the trim to protect the wall, relieve some fourth dimension without sacrificing clean lines past using the 11-½-inch Mini Guide™ Paint Shield & Smoothing Tool from Hyde Tools. Just press the paint shield'south stainless steel blade into the pucker between the trim and wall equally yous castor on the pigment to prevent splatter and smudges. After you've painted 11 inches or then of trim, lift the paint shield abroad and wipe its bract on a rag before repositioning it along the side by side section of window trim.

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For the all-time results on narrow strips of trim, opt for a small angled paintbrush like 1 from Richard Tools' Mini Master Angular Touch Series instead of a apartment paintbrush, which is more than suitable for cutting in on big areas. Brushes in the Mini Master Series run from 1½ to ii½ inches in width—the perfect size for painting trim. Plus, this line is suitable for utilise with all types of paint, and the brushes' soft-grip handles make them easy to hold.

Apply one to two coats for a durable cease, making sure you wait the proper amount of time earlier applying the adjacent glaze. You can find the recommended drying times on the paint can. Equally you're working, you may stop upward getting paint on the windowpanes. Don't worry! We'll prove you how to remove overpaint from drinking glass in the next department.

Photo: hydestore.com

REMOVING OVERPAINT FROM GLASS

After the terminal coat of paint dries completely, assess your work. Whatsoever overpaint or splatters seen on the windowpanes will detract from the appearance of the fresh glaze, so you'll desire to clean those upwardly. Luckily, even if dried, pigment can easily be scraped from the glass with the right tools.

Position the stainless steel bract of the Mini Guide Paint Shield along the edge of the window pane, where the drinking glass meets the painted trim. Cut forth the outer edge of the Mini Guide with the 9mm Snap-Off Blade Utility Knife. (Choosing a utility knife with snap-off blades ensures that you will always have a super-sharp bract to make the cleanest cutting.) The cutting line you make now will provide a clear, crisp, and straight line toward which you lot tin scrape away the backlog pigment.

Later on you've made this target line, use a glass razor scraper like Hyde Tools' Glass Scraper with 5 Blades Stored in Handle to remove the paint from the windowpane. Position the blade parallel to the edge of the trim and, using a direct motility, scrape the stuck-on paint correct off the glass. The scraper features an ergonomic design to reduce hand fatigue when scraping and, as the name suggests, a prepare supply of replacement blades in the handle in example yous demand to modify ane out on the job. With this trusty tool in mitt, you lot'll take sparkling clean glass without a trace of stray pigment.

Don't want to do it yourself?

Become free, no-delivery estimates from pro painters near you lot.

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Source: https://www.bobvila.com/articles/painting-window-trim/

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