# Brown (Non-Metallic) Satin Spray Paint for Aluminum Window Frames?



## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

I've got those ubiquitous brown aluminum windows (installed in the 1980s here in NYC) and I need to do some touch up to the frames, and complete repaints on the others. This will be a quick & dirty [clean!] job ... I've sanded the frames to rough them up a bit and wiped them down with mineral spirits. I'd prefer a solvent base spray paint. I'm seeing a lot of 'rubbed bronze' spray paints but they are _metallic_. My windows aren't metallic [and they are't anodized] just a solid brown. 

Can anyone recommend a paint and color in stain finish that might work? 

Years ago I used a spray paint product called Utilac by Benjamin Moore, which is no longer made (the cap of that can is in the pic and it's lighter and warmer brown than the present window frames ... but was a great paint]. 
A building manager had once given me a can of a spray paint called Alumiloc [Quaker Bronze] which was an acrylic product.

Thanks a bunch for any ideas.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

IMO it would make more sense to brush a thin coat of paint on them than have to tape up everything for spray. I'd be surprised if you can touch up anything that old and not have it show.


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## dd57chevy (Jun 21, 2015)

Lovegasoline said:


> My windows aren't metallic [and they are't anodized] just a solid brown.
> 
> 
> > Have they been _painted_ before ? Otherwise they almost _have_ to have started as an anodized finish .
> ...


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

mark sr said:


> IMO it would make more sense to brush a thin coat of paint on them than have to tape up everything for spray. I'd be surprised if you can touch up anything that old and not have it show.



Actually quite the contrary. 
I've touched up numerous frames and painted entire frames without issue in the past. I just pop the windows out and crudely put some masking paper down over the window sill; I've got a very thin stiff piece of (uncorrugated) cardboard (it has a sharp edge made more durable by many coats of enamel paint overspray) which I place against the window trim as a sort of freehand mask and then I spray - a little closer than I normally would - but with very light passes until I get a wetted surface. If the wind is blowing out through the window it functions as an impromptu spray booth! If any window for some reason should end up being more complicated, then I can just put a strip of blue tape on the window trim and still use the cardboard as a mask.
They come out impeccable. 

...
More details you most likely aren't interested in (unless you like this sort of thing):
The main window I want to do now is a full strip and renovation job (btw my other thread on this window forum has a pic of half or 3/8's of it) ... it was pretty involved: a ton of Peel Away 1, scraping, sanding, Bondo, ready patch, and buying/familiarizing myself with a Stanley #78 rabbet plane to make the sill's edge contour crisp and sharp. 
It's got 2 coats of alkyd underbody primer (Ben Moore #217)... and I want to now paint the window jambs (i hadn't planned on removing the caulk and repainting the jambs, but now _is_ the time).

Top coat Cabinet Coat Satin will be the final stage. Btw, the Cabinet Coat is new to me and it's giving me great grief in 90 degree NYC weather. 

Longwinded way of saying you've got a very valid concerning good points ... but I've never had a problem spraying them. I've always been surprised how insanely _easy _they are to do with my method and I walk away with the feeling that it should be much more difficult and that I'm getting away with something ... some sort of loophole!

In fact, the ease and speed of spraying those window jambs is like something from a fairy tale ... compared to being mired in the Aegean Stables for the past 6 months with Peel Away 1 turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

dd57chevy said:


> Lovegasoline said:
> 
> 
> > My windows aren't metallic [and they are't anodized] just a solid brown.
> ...


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

Deleted duplicate due to burdensome forum software :smile:


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

mark sr said:


> IMO it would make more sense to brush a thin coat of paint on them than have to tape up everything for spray. I'd be surprised if you can touch up anything that old and not have it show.


With your brushing, can you get a finish that's completely smooth, even, thin, and free of brush strokes?
What product and brush do you use?

I've been on a very long mission to remove all the crappy painted surfaces around here. These windows are smooth as a babies bottom ... and they retain that look after spraying. If brushing paint on them removes them from that category, I'm opposed to it.


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

dd57chevy said:


> I occasionally have to paint screen & sash frames , & it's tough to match .
> 
> In _Iowa_ , we generally have three color shades of what the industry refers to as "bronze" . Dark brown , light brown & brown/olive .
> 
> I'd suggest taking a sash to a local paint shop & see if he can match the color


What satin sheen paint product do you use to paint your sashes? Oil base? What brush?
Do you get a flawless smooth surface that can resemble a sprayed finish, one that shows no brush strokes? That's what I'm after. 

Curious. 

I'm an artist (sticks with hair; oil with colored dirt) but it seems to me that with the rheology of the products currently being sold it's a demanding enterprise to brush on the sort of surface that I can easily get by spraying.


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## dd57chevy (Jun 21, 2015)

Lovegasoline said:


> What satin sheen paint product do you use to paint your sashes? Oil base? What brush?
> Do you get a flawless smooth surface that can resemble a sprayed finish, one that shows no brush strokes? That's what I'm after.
> 
> I'm an artist (sticks with hair; oil with colored dirt) but it seems to me that with the rheology of the products currently being sold it's a demanding enterprise to brush on the sort of surface that I can easily get by spraying.


I use rustoleum or krylon :biggrin2:

I'm _mostly_ making screen frames & the color & finish only have to be , maybe , a 75-80% match . And I can spray them before I have the screen in , so overspray isn't a concern .

Let me first say , you asked for advice , so here goes :

Just from your pics , those windows _DON'T_ look that bad (JMO) . But if you are committed to this , I would suggest re-posting in the Paint forum on this site .


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

dd57chevy said:


> I use rustoleum or krylon :biggrin2:
> 
> I'm _mostly_ making screen frames & the color & finish only have to be , maybe , a 75-80% match . And I can spray them before I have the screen in , so overspray isn't a concern .
> 
> ...


No point showing the bad ones ... I'm showing what I want to match.
The windows posted don't look that bad because they're not that bad ... they're some of the pretty _good_ ones that clearly show the color and finish as a reference ... and they aren't scheduled to receive any paint or work of any sort.

I've got a frame that I scraped chunks off and the finish is scraped off down to the metal. And others with various blemishes that need a nice uniform coat of silky smooth satin finish.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Lovegasoline said:


> With your brushing, can you get a finish that's completely smooth, even, thin, and free of brush strokes?
> What product and brush do you use?
> 
> I've been on a very long mission to remove all the crappy painted surfaces around here. These windows are smooth as a babies bottom ... and they retain that look after spraying. If brushing paint on them removes them from that category, I'm opposed to it.





Using an oil base paint [thinned a little] and a good natural bristle brush along with good brushing technique will make brush marks hard to spot.


When I first got my 51 Ford F1 in the mid 70s it was covered in surface rust. I sanded it down and brushed on a grey oil base primer. It was difficult to spot the brush marks although yrs later when I was able to spray the truck there was one spot where the brush marks showed up - guess I didn't sand it good enough.


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