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We removed and painted our vinyl shutters over the weekend, using a 100% acrylic latex paint. They were painted the same as their original color, which is a deep green. Now I am reading where we should have used an acrylic and urethane mixed paint on the vinyl shutters. Do I have anything to worry about here? If I did use the wrong paint, can I simply coat the shutters with a clear polyurethane, either by brush, or spray can, or use some other clear coating? The 100% acrylic latex paint we used was a thick paint and dried fast. We gave each shutter 2 coats. It said on the label that it was good for vinyl siding (I would never paint vinyl siding!) It didn't mention vinyl shutters. I also didn't see anything about urethane listed as being one of the ingredient. Thanks.
My initial thought was that you would need a special paint to stick to plastic (which is what vinyl is), but if the label said you could use it on vinyl siding then it should be OK for vinyl shutters too, whatever ingredients are needed to stick to vinyl would have been in there. I don't think paints necessarily list all their ingredients on the label, so you have to go by the list of surfaces that it tells you it'll work on, and I can't imagine vinyl shutters would be different enough from vinyl siding for it to work on one but not the other.
If it does turn out it was the wrong paint though, you don't want to just paint over it, you'll need to strip off the old paint and redo it. If you put new paint overtop of paint that's not adhered well to the surface (which would be the case if this paint's not OK for vinyl), the old paint underneath will chip/peel and take the top coating right along with it.
thanks ecrane3. If it turns out that it is the wrong kind of paint, I think I will buy new vinyl shutters. I don't think I want to go to all the trouble and restrip the old paint and redo them.
Donna, did your shutters fade? Is that why you are painting them?
We are going to replace the tattered 30-year old louvred wood shutters outside our bedroom window with vinyl ones. The color we are ordering from Sears is a dark brown. They are 7/8" thick thermo formed styrene and we hope they will hold up to the summer heat here for at least a few years.
You can find out if the paint stuck by spraying them with a high presure nozzle on your garden hose.
If it isn't stuck right it will peal off like a sheet of plastic wrap.
A lot of plastic products can be stripped using a garden hose and a high presure nozzle.
You could use a water jet if you decide that your water presure isn't strong enough and or going to slow.
Water jets can be rented and are usually from 1200 psi to 3500 psi. and have adjustment valves you can adjust as you work.
They go for about $35.00 a day.
Start with a fan tip(they come with 3 tips) from a distance.
Move closer to see the farthest distance away that does the job.
A water jet with a circle nozzle will dig a hole in cement if you get close enough to it.
Put the shutters on something you don't mind getting wet or possibly destroyed if you get too close.
Never put a body part in the water stream it will get injected with water.
People at the rental yard are allways talking about guys putting their hand in the stream of water comming out the wand to see how much presure there is.
I can't figure it out,you're watching paint fly off whatever your spraying (I water jet houses with them before I paint them,it takes 90% of the loose paint off)and they don't think it'll do the same to their hand.
Great time saver and cleans in the cracks too.1200 psi should be more than enough for what your doing.A hose and nozle should do it unless you have a well/watertank - low water presure.
Plastics usually easy to strip with water.
They run on gas or electric.I use gas.I don't like standing in water while using electric.
