Life at our cottage has been pretty hectic with our living room in full makeover mode. I did want to share with you part of this rooms journey though as it also forms a little update to our garden room which you may recall we redecorated last November.
How To Paint UPVC Doors Easily – Frenchic Paint
We have two sets of double patio doors made from UPVC in our garden room one of which you gain access to our living room, the other is to my study. We were planning on replacing them as the white UPVC just wasn’t aesthetically pleasing and didn’t go with our decor choices. However, with COVID playing havoc with life, and my new found love of upcycling with our bedroom wardrobes, I looked into painting them. Ultimately, we were looking to save ourselves oodles of money and give us the look that we were hoping for in the long run. We’d been quoted around £3,000 to replace just one set and then there was also the disruption and potential making good with new doors. We were also trying to restrict trades into our home as keeping our little family safe is what life has really become about.
Frenchic Paint
We seem to have a 101 things happening renovating and bringing life back into our thatched cottage by the sea and one of those jobs has been painting. I came across Frenchic chalk Paint when I up-cycled my old study shelving units from IKEA. With little prep work involved (I’m a lazy decorator) and amazing quick drying times that provided me with instant gratification and a job well done, I was hooked. I also discovered that Frenchic made a paint that was suitable for UPVC called Al Fresco.
With our budget for our living room makeover not stretching to include new doors, I still had my work cut out trying to convince the hubs that this new found paint would work. I, of course, being a typical Aries, was determined to prove him wrong. After all, I had done the research and seen lots of people painting all manner of objects from front doors to drainpipes. This paint was to me, a little miracle in a pot.
How To Paint UPVC doors easily – Frenchic Paint
What Is Frenchic Al Fresco Paint?
Unlike other chalk paints, Frenchic’s Al Fresco chalk paint is specially formulated to be used inside and outdoors. Durable, weatherproof and UV resistant it’s definitely got a lot going for it. It’s also self-priming, self-sealing and self-levelling which will save you a lot of time in the long run in terms of prep and aftercare. It also has low VOC and is not only suitable for UPVC but wood, laminate, ceramics, and metals! Really there is nothing that this paint doesn’t seem to cover. It also has a wonderful matte finish which I prefer to gloss.
Easy Preparation
When I upcycled our bedroom wardrobes they took forever to sand, undercoat and took several topcoats to get the right finish. Frenchic paint is most definitely more straight forward and definitely less time-consuming. Fast-drying times ultimately mean you can get the job done quicker too! I literally painted one side of our double doors with five thin coats of Al Fresco Blackjack in an afternoon.
What You’ll Need to Paint UPVC Doors
- Al Fresco Frenchic Paint – Colour of your choice (I used Blackjack) I used two tins in total with some leftover to be able to do another small project.
- Ready to use Sugar Soap. Again widely available at DIY stores and also the Frenchic site.
- Round headed paintbrush great for getting into the corners/grooves (Frenchic sell these paintbrushes here but we got ours from B & Q)
- Fine sandpaper and optional sanding block to help get those edges sanded.
- You may also need to use a smaller paintbrush for the grooves – (not shown) I swiped one from my teen’s art set. Let’s not tell otherwise I’ll be indebited to him for something or other. Frenchic again sell smaller brush sets if your child is more vigilant and keeps track of their’s.
- Small roller with gloss head – I didn’t use one but it does provide a more even finish. Although I was pretty happy with the finish using the brush.
Sand, Clean Go!
Lightly sand the UPVC and then use sugar soap to clean the surfaces to ensure they are free from dirt and oils. You may also want to mask up handles and glass. I did for the first set of doors and to be honest, I found it difficult to get the tape off without pulling off some of the paint from the door frame. This, of course, could just be down to my messy painting skills and over painting onto the masking tape.
With the second set of doors leading into my study, I just went free hand and it was easier to just scrap paint of the glass than it was to try and touch up the areas where the tape had pulled of the paint. And yes I painted the rubber trim around the glass and seals. And no it hasn’t rubbed off!
Painting Tips
After much research, I learnt that thin layers of paint and lots of them was the solution to getting the perfect finish. Another tip was to ensure that your paint brush is slightly damp before painting. This is particularly good if your room is warm like ours. Of course, if you’re painting outside you’ll need to guage how warm a day it is and whether your brush is going to dry out quickly.
First Coat – Don’t Be Scared!
I’m not going to lie when it comes to the first coat, you will be seriously thinking what have I done! Or in my case, the hubs is going to kill me. I know he had the I told you look for sure when he walked in to see how the painting was going. Don’t be put off! This is perfectly normal.
PAINTING TIP: Avoid painting your UPVC on really hot days especially if your door is an outside door. The paint will dry too quickly and you won’t get an even finish. The same applies to exceptionally cold days too as the paint will take longer to dry.
Quick Drying
By the time I had finished the first coat on one side, it was dry enough to then add another coat. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this paint just for that reason alone!
By the third coat, I started to have a little more faith in that I could pull this off and prove the hubs wrong. Yes I was grinning from ear to ear.
Having painted two more coats of Black Jack (5 in total), this side was done. The only problem now was I didn’t like the old handle. The hubs wanted to replace it but I thought why not paint it so it blends in… so I did when he wasn’t looking!
Once I’d finished one side, I then started on the other side. I did give it a day in between.
BEFORE 
AFTER
With one set of doors painted I repeated the process the other end of our garden room with the doors leading into/from my study. I did only paint the garden room side doors with Blackjack. The reason being that my study colours are turqoise and dusky pink. Which is handy as Frenchic also do a gorgeous Dusky Pink Al Fresco paint too!
No Sealing Required…
There’s no need to seal Al Fresco Frenchic paint like you would with ordinary chalk paint. It does however, take 21 days to cure. It’s just a case of being careful in the interim. I can report that after two weeks, there’s been no chips or damage to either set of doors. I used just under two tins for both doors. For the cost of under £40, we have given our home a new lease of life without breaking the bank and I had fun in the process.
The plan next is to paint the skirting boards in our garden room. Oh and the inherited ’70’s fan lights. I have to say I have the upcycling bug and it feels good to think outside the box and not add to our landfill sites. It’s definitely a win win all round don’t you think?! In the meantime, we have our living room makeover to complete. It’s literally all systems go here at the moment.
How To Paint UPVC doors easily with Frenchic Paint
I created a little video/reel of me in action over on Instagram that you can watch by clicking the image above.
Pin To Pinterest…
How To Paint UPVC Doors Easily – Frenchic Paint
UPDATE: My Cottage Living Room makeover is now complete and can be viewed here. It’s made such a difference painting our white upvc doors black especially as they now feel part of the decor. And you’ll be pleased to know they are still looking great months down the line. So if you’re worried about long term how they will look, ours haven’t chipped and still look freshly painted.
If you’ve been inspired by today’s post on how to paint your UPVC doors, you might want to check out Frenchic’s website where they have a great selection of inspirational videos to watch to get your creative up-cycle juices going.
I also want to add that this post is not sponsored. I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully inspire you to try something new. And with the way things are looking right now, you may well be looking for your next lockdown project to keep you going!
Thanks as always for stopping by!
Maria xx
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