How To Spray Paint Exterior Shutters

Matt is a professional painter who owns and operates his own painting business, specializing in interior and exterior business firm painting.

Overtime, direct sunlight fades shutters. — Overtime, directly sunlight fades shutters.

Painting Plastic Shutters vs. Ownership Replacements

Vinyl window shutters that are badly faded from the sun can either be painted or replaced, just replacing them tin exist costly. The price for a two-pack of plastic window shutters costs anywhere from $forty to $100 each, depending on the size and mode. The toll adds upwards fast for a firm with multiple shutters.

Unless they're cracked or severely warped, painting them yourself is a much cheaper alternative to buying new ones, and the work itself is like shooting fish in a barrel when washed correctly. The chief challenge is taking them downwards, which often requires an extension ladder, but I'll share some tips to make the procedure easy.

Step i: Remove the Shutters

The easiest and fastest way to go about painting vinyl shutters is to have them downwardly and apply an airless sprayer to pigment them. Attempting to spray paint them from a ladder takes also much time to mask the siding and glass around the shutters, and painting them with a castor takes fifty-fifty more time.

You can hire an airless sprayer from the paint store, but if you don't want to mess effectually with that, another option is to spray them with aerosol spray paint. Personally, I recommend using an airless sprayer because it's a lot faster.

Necessary Supplies

Bucket hook
5-gallon bucket
Power drill
Black marker
Step/extension ladder
Airless sprayer
Premium exterior pigment

Unless the shutters are accessible from a step ladder, an extension ladder is needed to take them downward, but you lot'll need somewhere to safely place your drill after removing the screws from the shutter. Identify your drill and the screws into an empty 5-gallon saucepan attached to the ladder rung with a pail hook.

Marking the backside of each shutter with a black Sharpie is important if there are different sizes, and so it won't exist confusing installing them at the stop. I count them from left to right, starting with the high shutters commencement.

Plastic Shutter Buttons vs. Screws

Some vinyl shutters have plastic buttons instead of screws, but the buttons are normally hard to remove. If the buttons won't come out, scrape them off, pull out the plastic piece within with a wrench, and buy a pack of Shutter Lok Fasteners from your home comeback shop. These fasteners are paintable.

Step two: Make clean the Shutters

Window shutters accumulate dirt and mildew, which requires cleaning before painting. A ability washer or garden hose is fine for cleaning them; if peeling paint exists, a power washer is the all-time pick. Vinyl cleans up well with a power washer without becoming damaged similar wood can.

Scrub them with soapy warm h2o get-go, using a coarse scrubbing pad. No harsh cleaning chemicals are needed, only if mildew exists, you tin can add a little bleach to the mix to help remove mildew stains.

Is Primer Needed?

If the vinyl is in good status likewise the fading, without peeling paint, no primer is needed if using the premium paints I recommend (which are likewise safe for use on vinyl). The surface should exist scuff sanded before priming or painting.

Peeling paint should exist ability washed and scraped until no loose paint chips are left behind, and and so a bonding primer can be sprayed onto the shutters. A bonding primer, designed for peeling pigment, helps keep sometime paint intact underneath new paint. Products similar Mad Dog latex primer works well for this purpose. One coat of primer is all that's needed.

Step 3: Spray the Shutters

Well-nigh pigment stores will rent yous their airless sprayer (spray tip included) for $fifty to $75 for the day. The amount of time spraying will relieve you is well worth the rental cost if you don't already ain a sprayer. Spray painting vinyl shutters takes less than x minutes, plus dry time in between coats. Two coats is best. Not only does spraying relieve time, merely the paint finish looks so much better.

The best manner to spray them is horizontally with a driblet cloth underneath to protect grass from over-spray. For storing freshly painted shutters, I use the same drying rack I use for cabinet painting, merely yous tin can place them on buckets, or boards, to keep them in a higher place the grass while drying. Ii coats of paint is best for durability and color.

Curl to Proceed

All-time Paint for Vinyl Shutters

Non all exterior paints can be used on vinyl. Based on my experience, the two all-time paints for painting plastic shutters are Elapsing and Super Pigment from Sherwin Williams. I've been spraying shutters with these products for many years without any bug. Cost wise, Super Paint costs less than Elapsing and provides excellent durability. The satin finish in both of these products looks really nice on plastic shutters.

Vinyl Prophylactic Colors

Similar vinyl siding, not all paint colors are prophylactic for plastic shutters. Certain colors can absorb too much oestrus, resulting in warping and paint failure. Sherwin Williams offers a huge palette of vinyl-safe colors to make color choice easy.

This commodity is accurate and true to the all-time of the author'southward noesis. Content is for advisory or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional person advice in concern, fiscal, legal, or technical matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: Is black paint safety on vinyl shutters?

Reply: Check and encounter if the pigment make you lot're using has a brochure with vinyl condom colors. Some do. You also desire to make sure the pigment you're using can be used on vinyl. Personally, I've painted vinyl shutters black earlier without any problems.

Question: When painting vinyl shutters, does the white chalky residue need to be removed even after the shutter has been scrubbed with soapy bleach water only is still evident?

Answer: You tin can wipe it off with a tack cloth if at that place'due south still residue left later cleaning.

Question: What blazon of paint is Duration?

Answer: Elapsing exterior is an acrylic latex paint that's rubber for use on vinyl shutters, or siding.

Question: Is All Surface Sherwin-Williams water based blackness enamel a good choice to paint slightly faded x year old black vinyl shutters?

Respond: No, I would employ Duration, Super Paint, or Emerald, on the vinyl shutters. All three products can be used on vinyl. I've never used All Surface Enamel on shutters, and the datasheet for that product doesn't mention that the paint can be used on vinyl. I've used those three recommended products many times on shutters. Elapsing and Emerald aren't inexpensive but provide excellent durability. Super Paint is the least expensive of the three. I utilize Duration on all of my exterior painting projects, including shutters.

Question: Is it true that you cannot pigment vinyl shutters a darker color than the previous color?

Answer: Yeah, that's true in some cases. Darker colors tin can get also hot from the sun and fail, or crusade warping. Equally my article explains, you should check with the paint shop for vinyl safe colors.

Question: What nigh brown paint for vinyl shutters?

Answer: Check with the paint store to see if they take a list of colors that are safety for vinyl. Make sure the pigment itself is safe for vinyl application as well.

Question: Which exterior paint for shutters is all-time for mold and mildew prone areas?

Reply: Emerald (acrylic) from Sherwin Williams is a expert mildew resistant option for painting vinyl shutters. Another good pigment is Elapsing, also from Sherwin Williams, but if the concern is mildew, I'd go with Emerald. Don't use oil paint.

Question: Tin I use Sherwin Duration pigment on a wooden forepart door?

Answer: Yes, but the door should exist prepped outset (cleaning, sanding, and priming if needed).

Question: What airless sprayer would you recommend for spraying shutters and decks?

Answer: I use a Graco 495 airless sprayer for shutters and decks, simply their 390 or 395 sprayer would exist fine too. Titan also makes practiced sprayers. Both brands are unremarkably the rental choices at the paint store.

Question: What kind of pigment brushes to utilise on vinyl shutters?

Respond: I spray vinyl shutters, but if I was brushing them I'd utilise my Purdy Pro Extra castor. These brushes are swell for exterior paint. They agree more paint and have a smooth release to reduce visible castor marks.

Question: Can you use a can of spray pigment to pigment vinyl shutters?

Reply: Yes, equally long as the paint is safety for use on vinyl. If yous but have like two or four window shutters to pigment, using spray paint in a tin is doable, but for multiple shutters, y'all'll demand several cans. I would but rent an airless sprayer for $50 to $75 and spray them that way instead of using rattle cans. You'll have a ameliorate finish on the shutters likewise, using a sprayer instead of a spray can, and it'll go faster.

Question: If no Sherwin Williams store in my area what other brands of paint do you propose for shutters that got very faded in no direct sunday and are in a damp area?

Respond: Benjamin Moore has good paint.

Question: What pigment did you use for the black shutters? I accept shutters that are currently painted Jamestown Ruby. Originally were blue. Want to paint them Farrow & Brawl Blackness Blue #95 color. Using SW paint.

Answer: I use Duration exterior paint for vinyl shutters (satin finish). I spray them. The black I've always used for window shutters is chosen Tricorn Black. It's a Sherwin Williams color.

Question: Can I use the Duration outside for my front door to friction match my shutters if the door is metal?

Answer: Yes, y'all can use outside Duration on your metal door. If the door is unpainted though, I would prime information technology get-go.

Question: Sherwin Williams tells me not to pigment my black shutters with Duration product also black due to information technology will warp the vinyl shutters. What do I do?

Respond: Duration paint itself can exist used on vinyl window shutters. I've used this product many times for that purpose. The store employee was correct though about possible warping if yous're using blackness paint over a much lighter color. Using paint darker than the existing manufacturer cease tin can cause the vinyl to warp, especially if they're exposed to direct sunlight all solar day. The aforementioned thing tin can happen with vinyl siding painted a dark colour. Blackness pigment absorbs a lot of heat in the summertime and gets very hot. This can crusade problems with your plastic shutters. It doesn't mean that your shutters will definitely warp if you paint them black, but there'southward a potential risk, and the store might not back the paint warranty if information technology happens. The shop should be able to assist you lot with paint colors that are safe for apply on vinyl. I don't recommend painting your shutters black, by and large for durability concerns. While Duration is a very durable product, black paint'south going to fade a lot faster under the lord's day than other colors.

Question: I bought paint for aluminum shutters by mistake instead of vinyl, will this paint still work?

Reply: Read the specs for the paint you're using to see if it can be used on vinyl. Not all exterior paints can exist used on vinyl.

Question: Volition the Duration paint work on plastic/vinyl Indoor California shutters? If so, do I demand a primer if they are in good shape and take not previously been painted?

Answer: Aye, Duration exterior paint works slap-up for vinyl window shutters, that'south what I apply, simply don't use exterior paint indoors. The fumes from exterior paint are very toxic and non meant for indoor employ. Use a vinyl-safe interior paint for that. The shutters should be cleaned and scuff sanded. With the correct paint, primer isn't needed.