ALUMINIUM WINDOW - which paint?

[Dave123456789]

Hi I have some silver aluminium double glazing in my living room

i wish to paint the timber frame and the window frame white.

Can anybody pls advise which is the best paint to use?

Regards

 

[dcdec]

De-grease the metal with meths first. Etch primer used to be the way to go but i'm not sure if its that easy to get now. Zinnser bin is high grip and 123 can also be used as a general metal primer. It might be worth ringing zinsser uk to see what they say but i think they'll recommend the bin. Bin can go over the timber as well which i'm presuming is stained or varnished rather than painting. You have to work very quickly with bin and its a chuck away brush job as well.

 

[Dave123456789]

hi sorry im a total newb when it comes to DIY

what exactly is meths? and zinnser? and bin?

by primer do you mean the undercoat?

timber is brown varnish yup!

sorry if the questions are stupid!

 

[Dave123456789]

also - is there a difference between the paint i will use on the windows - inside my house and outside??

because i also recently changed my front door to white - so want the windows to be painted white too for now,..

 

[misterhelpful]

Meths is methylated spirit, which is a solvent used for cleaning (the purple one).

It's actually Zinsser Bullseye 1 2 3 (the PLUS version is newer and more expensive) that is best for aluminium surfaces rather than the B-I-N. It can be used to prime interior and exterior surfaces so is fine on the windows and the wood. Their products can do so many things that it's difficult to remember which is best for what!

The topcoats you choose will depend on your preference of finish but bear in mind that white oil based paints now yellow pretty quickly indoors so you may prefer a good quality water based product. It's not such a problem outside because the natural daylight keeps it white for longer. Oil based have traditionally been used and are easier to get a nice finish with, but water based products are now getting much better than they were so you can use one of those providing if it's suitable for outdoors (check the tin).

 

[dcdec]

Well done Mr H, zinsser do generalise a bit don't they? and the 123 will be a lot easier to use.

 

[misterhelpful]

@ dcdec

They do generalise, and with most of their products doing a lot of the same things, it does sometimes get confusing. I only knew which one was best because I used some of the 1-2-3 last week and recall reading on the tin that it is ideal for binding the chalky/powdery surface of aluminium. I imagine the B-I-N would work just as well but, as you say, it's much harder to use.