Painting Aluminium Windows For a Shopfront
As your shop front is literally the window to your business, you’ll want it to look as good as you can. Having the frames in the right colour to match your corporate colours is important. Any miss-match with the colour of the aluminium joinery which makes up the shop front is wrong.
Replacing the shop front will cost you around $1,000 per square metre and can add up to tens of thousands of dollars. The other way to change the colour is through painting aluminium windows, which is far quicker and a more cost effective solution.
The process of painting aluminium windows in a shop front, involves two main steps: Preparation and Paint Application. Each step can be broken down into a series of more detailed steps. To achieve a powder coat like durable finish requires specialized skill and knowledge. You’ll need to know about two pac paints and how to apply them using HVLP spray gun. It is highly recommended that you employ professional skilled painters, especially in the area of over spray containment or, you may end up with an expensive clean up bill if any over spray gets onto floors and other shop fronts.
Preparation – The preparation required for painting aluminium windows in a shop, front takes the most amount of time and labour. It is only the inexperienced painter or DIY handy man that skimps on the preparation stage because they lack knowledge. Skimping on the preparation stage will affect the durability of the paint applied. If you want this job done, of course you’ll want the best value that involves job quality and with the right amount of preparation by a professional for a fair price. This is where “Window Revival” stands.
First thing you need to do in the preparation stage is clean the frames. Do this thoroughly. The right way to do this is by the wipe on wipe method. However, this should be done in small sections. First, with a clean cloth, use and apply solvent such as wax and grease remover/prepsol to dissolve grease and built up grim. Then, use a second clean cloth to wipe of f the dissolved grease and solvent solution. A commercial grade scour can be used to remove built up grease and grim.
Once the frames are clean, it’s important to key the substrate up so that optimal paint adhesion is achieved. Commercial window frames are usually made up of 50mm x 50mm powder coated aluminium extruded cross section and can be sanded with an electric sander. However, more often than not, it is as fast to sand by hand. The substrate its condition will determine what sand paper grade to use. I recommend 240 grit for powder coated surfaces that are not chalking, and 120 grit if they are followed by 60grit for anodized surfaces working down to 150 grit.
Prior to painting, just after sanding, always blow dust off and carry out a quick wipe on wipe off solvent clean.
Also, prior to painting, ensure that all adjacent finished surfaces such as floors and walls are properly masked up and protected. A commercial zip wall is appropriate when painting inside a shopping centre along with a mechanical extraction system that can vent any solvent fumes. The entire process will have to be coordinated with the shopping centre central management and it is most likely that all painting and preparation will have to be scheduled for outside hours.
Painting- It is recommended that a three coat system be used. Applying he first coat as the primer coat. A single pac etch primer followed by two top coats of a ploy urethane accordingly. Both the primer and the top coats should be applied using a HVLP spray gun. Allow at least thirty minutes for the primer to dry and only apply a light coat. For the top coats, it is recommended to apply four light coats and allow 10 minute intervals between each coat. You can also refer to the paint manufacturers specifications because drying times are highly dependent on temperature and humidity.
Once painting is finished, the masking can be removed and the glass can be cleaned to highlight the new change of colour.