How to Paint Windows Black [Including vinyl exterior frames!]

Everything you need to know about how to paint windows black! Paint your vinyl or wood window frames with this tutorial and helpful tips!

This summer we gave our whole exterior a makeover, and one of the things on our exterior makeover wish list was new window frames black. Quotes for a house of our size, with 11 window frames came back over $20,000, which just wasn't in the cards for us, so we decided to paint windows black ourselves!

Risks of Painting Vinyl Black

Whether you are painting vinyl siding or windows, there are risks associated with painting them a darker colour. Any colour that is darker than the orignal colour of the manufactured vinyl and absorb and trap heat from the sun between the coating and the vinyl, which can cause the vinyl to warp beyond repair.

Fortunately, paint has come a long way, and there are companies like Sherwin-Williams who have created

We also pulled from our own experience with a black painted vinyl window. Last summer, we built a playhouse for our kids and added real vinyl windows that we picked up at our local Habitat ReStore. Those windows were spray painted black (not even vinyl safe), and lasted through a year and two heat waves, without any warping or any issues at all. So we felt pretty confident moving forward in our climate.

What materials do you need?

Here's a rundown of the paint and materials that we needed to paint our windows:

Materials

• Extreme Bond Primer
• Vinyl Safe Paint
• FrogTape
• Plastic Film
• Brushes or paint sprayer

How to paint windows black

What Vinyl Safe Paint can you use for black windows?

There is a whole

Prep Your Windows

We prepped all of our windows before painting them by pressure washing them, and then wiping them down with

Do you need to prime vinyl window frames before painting?

One of the questions we received the most was whether or not we actually had to prime all of the frames before painting them. As I mentioned, we primed all of our vinyl window frames using extreme bond primer. This primer is formulated to adhere very well to it's surface. Regular paint, including the vinyl safe formula, will not adhere to your vinyl windows as well without the primer on first.

When we were done painting, we pressure washed and tried to scratch our newly painted windows, without seeing any wear or tear, and I definitely think that's because the primer did it's job so well!

Then with the interior windows removed, we primed those as well. We wanted to lay them flat to prime them so that the paint didn't dip down into the track, or drip into the "fluffy" sliding part of the window. We primed and painted as close as we could to that, so that you couldn't see any white when we put the windows back in.

Brush vs. Paint Sprayer for Painting Windows Black

We painted all of our windows with brushes, and then rolled any of the flat parts with a dollar store foam roller. We love using a paint sprayer, and definitely would've used one if we could have because the sprayer is much faster.

We had painted our window frames during the same time frame that we

Painting Vinyl Window Frames Black with Multiple Coats

Since we were using the vinyl safe paint that doesn't have any black tint, we needed to do multiple coats before we got a good black finish. You can see in the windows above how the first coat, when dry still looks very blue. The second coat is much better, but you can still see blue through at various spots, so we found it best to do a third coat on every window.

If you watch the video tutorial linked below, you'll see examples of the windows at each stage of the painting process.

Painting Wood Window Frames Black

Our bay windows and one of our exterior windows had wooden frames. In general you can use the exact same process for window prep, priming, and painting.

If you are painting wooden window frames, you don't need to use the specialized vinyl safe paint because the wooden frames don't have the same risk of warping, but you can use it if you choose to. We still did choose to use the same vinyl safe formula because we wanted all of our frames to match and have the same colour tone.

Finishing Your Newly Painted Windows

As I mentioned before, to get the best finish with a brush, we recommend using a small foam roller as well. When we were done all three coats, we walked around and found a few small spots on the window frames to touch up, but that's it.

If you remove your tape and find that you have any paint on the inside of your windows, if should be easy to remove with a small razor and an SOS pad. The paint inside the frame is likely just from seeping behind the tape, and won't have any primer behind it, so it's still fairly easy to remove.

If I can give one other piece of advice: use the expensive painters tape! It makes such a difference and is definitely worth the extra money to not have paint that needs to be scrapped on the inside after.

Video Tutorial for How to Paint Windows Black

Don't forget to

Looking for more exterior inspiration? Check out how we