Paint My Vynil Shutters

My shutters came with the house, so that puts them at about 18 years old. After I built my garage I have been wanting to change the color to match the roof and accent color of the garage. I finally decide I was going to do it. It took approximately an hour per pair, and I have 10 pairs. Plan a nice weekend. I used a Rustoleum spray paint and it took 1 can per pair. Remember to work safe and have fun with it.

Step 1: Tools and Product

Drill/Driver with bit for your screws

Step Ladder, Extension Ladder

Finnish Sanding Pads

1 Spray Paint can/pr of shutters (your color)

Saw Horses or bench to work on

Water Hose, bucket of water

Paper plate

Nice weather

Step 2: Take Down the Shutters

I used my drill/Driver with a 1/4" hex bit, to take down the shutters. Using a step ladder for the lower floor windows, and an extension ladder for the upper floor windows. I pushed the screws through a paper plate for safe keeping and painting later.

Be aware of wasps and bees that may build nests behind the shutters. Seems like a popular spot for them. All but a few had Nests behind them. They have been up awhile. I was not stung so I did not spray wasp killer on them. Use a hard stream of water from the garden hose to get them to move on.

Step 3: Prepare Shutters for Paint

I placed a small wood skid on my saw horses to use as a work bench. I worked in pairs as I pulled them off the wall placing them on the bench. Using the 3M Sanding pad I scrubbed the edges, the rails and then the panels. Some were more oxidized then others. Lots of elbow grease here. Take the time to get the surface scrubbed down to give the paint a surface to bond to.

Then I stood them up and hosed them off really well with the garden hose. Leave them standing and they dried fast.

Step 4: Painting

I stacked 4 pair at a time to paint at once. Taking time to line up the sides so I could paint all the edges.

Shake your spray paint cans well. Holding 8 - 10" away follow good spray paint techniques to get good coverage.

I think this was the hardest part for me. I am always trying to stretch my paint coverage, or moving to slow.

Find a pattern that suits you best. I tried to do the vertical parts around the panels, then the stiles and rails then the panels. That's what worked best for me.

As I would get the top 1 painted, I would carfully lift off. Then used my kids trampoline to lay out to dry. After all the panels were painted, I layed the paper plate out with the screws pushed through. I spray painted them on the paper plate and let them dry.

Do not try to paint the screws after you reinstall them. That didn't work for me. To much over spray, to hard to control my spray paint. I got the idea of the paper plate after eating my sandwich during a break between letting the paint dry on the shutters.

Step 5: Reinstall the Shutters

After the paint dries, it's time to reinstall. Pay attention to the panels. They look even, they are not. One panel is slightly longer than the other. I placed the longer on the bottom. To place evenly against the window, I noticed I had approximately a finger width, top and bottom. Start a screw, then using drill/driver, snuggled the screws back in. This is vynil, do not over tighten. Take your time here. Find some help to hold or drive the screws back in. Any bumps, bangs, scrapes, will leave marks in your fresh paint. I did alright by myself. It would have been easier with extra hands.

Step 6: Congratulations

You did it! For less than $4/pair of shutters for paint, and a scrubber pad and an hour of time we got some new looking shutters.

I had perfect weather when I did these. Low 80's, low humidity, lots of sun. Made for really fast dry times. I was thinking about putting a satin clear coat over them to help protect them from the sun damage, I have not done that yet.

Next project will be to paint my entry door to match my shutters. Thanks to all.

Comments

[jking38]

What type of screws did you use to get the shutters back up with?

[Bomb88]

I used the same screws that came with the shutters. I painted them to match.

[jking38]

Over the years I have had one or two fall off the house and had to reattach them and the plastic screw like things have not worked well. So I have been on the hunt for a better way to reattach the to the house. Thanks

[buck2217]

It's Vinyl although phonetically yours works too! :-)

[gm280]

Looks very nice to me. I actually did the exact same thing. Except I numbered them as I removed them to get them in the same place when reinstalling them again. And I used Krylon paint for plastic. I think they call it Fusion, but not sure. I also washed them with some purple power and brush and water rinse to get all the dirt and such off them first. Way better then buying new shutters any day. Thumbs Up for your project.

[Bomb88]

Thanks. I did work them in pairs. So they may not be exactly back in same spot, they are all the same size. I didn't realize the top and bottom were slightly different until I put up the 3rd one. Had to flip the first 1 I put up. They were only about an inch off. Rustoleum had an exact match to my garage color, is why I went with that and it covers plastic also. $4 and an hour/pair. Way better than new. Thanks again

[Swansong]

Those look nice, the red looks pretty next to the red brick :)