Articles » 74 Little Known Secret Solutions » When Was The Last Time You Endured The Following Painful (DIY) Experience?

Can I paint a uPVC door and frame which has a grained wood effect?

Yes, assuming the grained effect is part of the original door finish and not painted on. If the surface is
sound, i.e. not flaky or rough but smooth and flat, you can repaint the door and frame by priming first with ESP followed by two coats of oil based gloss with Owatrol oil added in to both coats. About 20% in first coat and 10 to 15% (just enough to make it “flow nicely”) to your second coat for a superb finish. ESP & Owatrol are available on our website and most good paint outlets.

Can I paint over bronze coloured aluminium windows and doors with white gloss?

Yes, but you need a special primer to make the paint stick to the aluminium and the natural colour beading on same. I would suggest something like ESP or Easy Surface Preperation, which works very well on shiny surfaces to give paint a grip.

After you apply the ESP (as usual read instructions carefully) it would also be a good idea to use a high quality oil based undercoat and top coat. We always recommend that you do a test piece somewhere inconspicuous first to get the feel of it etc. (Not the front door!)

For the best possible result, add about 25% Owatrol oil, a paint conditioner into the first coat (undercoat) or even into first coat of two coats of gloss, and about 10 to 15% (just enough to make it “flow nicely”) into your second coat for a superb finish. You should end up with a lovely brush mark-free, rich finish that will last for years. ESP & Owatrol are available on our website and the better paint outlets.

I was hoping to change the colour of my uPVC windows and doors, but don’t know how to go about it?

You can paint those PVC windows and doors any colour you like thanks to a clever smooth surface primer called ESP. I would suggest you choose an oil based satin or gloss paint to do the job for maximum durability.
To do the job all you have to do is wash the pvc first with sugar soap and warm water and rinse. Get a clean lint free cloth, soak it with ESP and wipe it all over the surfaces you wish to paint. Do one window at a time.
Leave that to cure for at least 2 hours at normal room temperature and after that you are ready to apply your gloss or whatever.
In case you are unsure if the paint will stick, you will know as soon as you start to apply the paint, i.e. if the paint starts to crawl or run away from the brush you have not applied the ESP properly. If this happens, just re-treat that area with ESP. On the other hand, if the paint goes on in the normal way, everything should be ok.
Another tip to ensure you get a lovely smooth, brush-free finish is to add some Owatrol oil to the paint if it feels draggy or heavy. This will also help with paint adhesion. ESP & Owatrol are available on our website and the better paint outlets.

We have replaced some of our aluminium windows with double glazed PVC ones to help keep out the traffic noise and I would like to know if we can do something with the remaining aluminium ones that will allow us match them up with the PVC ones that are white? We could not afford to replace all the windows at this time, but the noise was awful and we had to do something about it. Now we have aluminium and white colours that don’t look right. I want to know if there is any way we can change the colour of the aluminium to match the white?

Yes you can paint the aluminium window white to match the new PVC ones. First you need a special primer to make paint stick to the aluminium. ESP is extremely effective for the job you describe because it works very well on shiny surfaces to give your paint a good grip.

After you apply the ESP (as usual read instructions carefully) it would also be a good idea to use a high quality oil based undercoat and topcoat or even two topcoats. I’d always suggest you do a piece somewhere inconspicuous first to get the feel of it etc.
For the best effect possible, add about 20% Owatrol oil to the undercoat and about 10% (just enough to
make it “flow nicely”) to your topcoat for a superb finish. You should end up with a lovely brush mark- free, rich finish that will last for years. ESP & Owatrol are available on our website and the better paint outlets.

What do I do with my shiny surface, white interior doors? I have a number of white interior doors in my home which have a shiny surface, and appear to me to have a plastic coating. I do not know if they are laminated or not. They were fitted when my house was built about 5 years ago. They now need some attention, but I have been advised not to paint them on account of the coating on them. Any advice as to whether this is true or not, and if so, is there some other means of cleaning them?

The advice you received regarding not being able to paint them is quite out of date - you can. Those doors are probably made of some modern laminate or other which are generally fairly easy to clean etc. You can paint them with no trouble at all. Clean the doors first with some Sugar Soap liquid and warm water, a combination that usually works well. Rinse with clean water. Don't use harsh chemicals or you could do irreversible damage.

All you need is a can of ESP and some paint of your choice, probably an oil based satin or gloss depending on whether you would like them very shiny or not so shiny.
If you plan to apply a new white coat you won't need an undercoat, however, if you plan to apply a very different colour to what is there already, you may need an undercoat to bridge 'the colour gap'. To do the job, get a clean, lint free cloth and wipe the ESP (a clear primer film) on carefully taking care not to miss any spots.

Leave the ESP film for about two hours at normal room temperature to dry. After two to three hours or later, you can apply the paint directly. Note, if, when you start painting, the paint starts to run away from the brush or 'crawls' as it is known, you will need to re-ESP that area because it will not have been done correctly.

Depending on your finish etc, you could apply a second coat of the same paint, especially if using gloss, but you'll probably get a nice job done even with the one coat. Actually here's a useful tip. If you add about 10% or thereabouts of Owatrol oil (also known as a Paint Conditioner) to your paint, it will help the adhesion, hiding and coverage, leaving a beautiful, brush mark-free finish. If you choose to use one of the newer water based gloss paints on the market, we would recommend you add some Floetrol (waterbased paint conditioner) to help the paint flow out to a lovely brush-mark free finish.

Owatrol Oil will help with coverage, hiding, adhesion and general appearance of all oil based paints and varnishes. Floetrol will do likewise in water based paints but not is suitable for water based varnish. ESP, Owatrol Oil & Floetrol are available on our website or at the better paint outlets.