How To Paint Vinyl Windows Black

Exterior Vinyl Windows – Can Yous Paint Them Dark?

As a residential paint color specialist, this is the busy season for exterior paint color consultations. Night outside windows are quite the rage for loftier-end builds right now, and I've been specifying them correct and left. But can you paint vinyl windows dark, and if not, why?

can you paint your vinyl windows dark?

This week I consulted with a couple on colors for their new habitation currently being congenital. The windows are already in – they are paintable PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which is a plastic polymer.

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My clients were excited about going night on their windows, so I helped them choose Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal. This was the overall program I presented them:

painting exterior pvc windows

When they shared the plan with their builder, he told them that if they painted the pvc or vinyl windows a paint color that had less than a LRV of 55, the warranty on the windows would be zero and void. And then they are paintable, simply just calorie-free colors tin can exist used???

Fashion to rain on our parade . . .

So hither'due south the scoop – dark colors with depression LRV (that means light reflective value, in case you're wondering) absorb oestrus much more than lighter colors with a higher LRV. This isn't an issue if yous are painting wood, because heat does not alter wood. You may have already heard that you lot tin't pigment vinyl siding dark, considering it tin warp. Unlike their competitors, LP SmartSide siding and trim products are engineered wood products, and so rut doesn't warp information technology. However, heat Tin warp plastic products. So pvc and vinyl window manufacturers don't want to have the adventure that straight sunlight will impairment the vinyl windows, which is why they make this caveat to their production warranty.

Here is the communication that Azek (a pvc trim board manufacturer) provides its customers:
• If you cull to paint, use a 100% acrylic latex pigment
with colors having a Light Reflective Value (LRV) of
55 or higher.

• For darker colors (LRV of 54 or lower), cull paints
specifically designed for use on vinyl/pvc products
such every bit, merely non express to, Sherwin-Williams
VinylSafe™ coatings. These paints/coatings are
designed to reduce excessive oestrus gain.

AHA! Here's more than nigh the Sherwin-Williams product that might solve the problem:

Sherwin-Williams VinylSafe™ Colour Engineering provides a broad color option and excellent operation on vinyl without buckling — fifty-fifty when using a dark color.

You lot can choose from their 100 colour options in the VinylSafe™ palette, or have them do a custom color lucifer. VinylSafe™ Color Engineering science promises a quality finish that resists blistering and peeling. And no, they are not paying me to tell you this (but they totally should)!

Does this mean that you tin can safely pigment a night color on your exterior pvc windows? Aye, probably. Since pvc does not absorb moisture, the paint on polyurethane trim will last much longer than on wood, so that's a plus besides.

However, the window manufacturer may still return the warranty void only to avoid the potential of problems down the road. I'm still waiting to hear dorsum from my customer – we may accept to modify our outside paint palette.

Big, fat frowny confront . . .

If yous are building a house or replacing your windows, make sure you check out all the prefinished options before defaulting to white windows.

5-Ormond-Castle-Window

Dark windows are pop correct now, but don't be fearful about them going out of style. They are a archetype – just bank check out centuries-old European castles, and you'll encounter for yourself!

Exercise yous like dark exterior windows? Would y'all take a run a risk on painting yours?