has anyone painted the exterior of their Marvin Ultrex windows?

12 years ago

If only the ebony windows came with either the wood interior or an ebony interior, I would not be considering this. We already used the ebony on our detached garage, and I love the color on the outside. Just don't want the white fiberglass on the inside in the house. The darkest color that comes in the wood interior is bronze. Would it be insane to get that and then paint it black? Or should we be looking at another line of windows?

We used these because of their efficiency, mid-range price, decent reputation, etc. so I sort of hate to start over on the research. Plus our architect based a lot of the window schedule with the goal of using as many stock sizes as possible.

A few weeks ago, I talked to a Marvin rep at the Seattle home show and he said he had actually done this-- a different color, but for the same reason. He painted the exterior himself (brush not spray) and said they came out great, but I'd like at least one more opinion!

Featured Answer

CWirick

12 years ago

I was in the same boat. I ended up with Milgard Ultras (also fiberglass) because Marvin didn't offer the black on black option and I had little faith in a thorough interior paint job. Milgard does offer the black on black option.

Marvin's lack of ebony with a wood interior - or color options for the fiberglass interior - is a real shame. Who wants black casements with bright white interiors that are exposed every time the window is open?

Comments (7)

LE
Original Author
12 years ago
The rep I talked to said the ebony plus wood was their most requested unavailable option here in the PNW, followed by black- on black, or maybe it was a tie. I figure one of those will become available the year after our windows go in, which won't be til 2013.

Are you happy with the Milgards? Maybe I will have to re-evaluate. I'm not too excited about spending my vacation next summer painting exterior fiberglass of brand new windows. I would be happy with the black on black look as well. Maybe happier.
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CWirick
12 years ago
The house is not yet fully constructed so I can't give you an experienced opinion yet, but I love the look of the black Milgards. The neighbors love them too. My builder raves about Milgards. The lifetime warranty was a nice selling point. Another bonus for you: the fiberglass Milgards are manufactured in your backyard. Tacoma I believe.
reinan
12 years ago
Lori, I saw your question and thought that I could supply some info from Integrity that would be helpful (I do marketing work for them). Ultrex is very paintable -- it just needs some simple surface prep.

Painting Ultrex

1. Thoroughly sand the factory finish with 320Ã¢ÂÂ400 grit sandpaper.
2. Wash the surface with water and detergent to remove contaminants, rinse with clear water and dry
thoroughly.
3. Mask any window components that will not be painted.
4. Coat the Ultrex with a quality exterior grade acrylic latex paint. We suggest using a foam brush.
5. Acrylic latex products gain full adhesion after seven to ten days' cure.
6. Spot test a small area after seven to ten days to verify adequate surface preparation prior to finishing
large areas.

Matching House Paint
See your local paint retailer to match house or trim paint to Integrity windows and doors.

Any Sherwin Williams dealer can match the paint by using the formula below: (tinted/gal.)

EBONY
Base: Exterior Latex Satin
Ultra Deep Base (A89T154)
Tint: Black (BÃ¢ÂÂ1) 12 oz.
reinan
12 years ago
I don't know why the program messes up the dashes. In the post above, it should be, sand with 320 to 400 grit sandpaper. And at the bottom, the black tint color is B dash 1.
LE
Original Author
12 years ago
reinan, thanks for the input-- I wish I'd had that recipe for Ebony last summer when I tried to find a black paint for the door to match those windows in the garage!

I know the windows are paintable, and I'm sure they'd look good for some time. But then, so does wood! What I'm wondering is if then that puts on the same or similar maintenance cycle as we'd have if we had wood windows. Because one of the pluses of the Ultrex exterior is the no-maintenance aspect, especially as this is a retirement home.

I hate to re-visit the whole window schedule, but we may have to look at another brand. Unless Integrity decides to make Ebony with either a wood or Ebony interior in the next year and a half!
scottcroth
10 months ago
last modified: 10 months ago
I am considering purchasing a leftover Marvin elevate french door available in my area so that I don't have to wait for the long lead time (3-4 months+) and save some money buying leftover vs new.

We are mid-construction (remodel) and have decided to add a french door (single outswing rough opening 37 5/16"). Some considerations of our decision of the immediately available leftover Marvin french door I have found for sale locally are:

A) exterior color is ebony, whereas all other french doors and windows we have are stone white exterior [learned it can be painted; references mentioned at bottom of this post]

B) adjustable hinges are ebony, whereas the other french doors and windows are satin nickel PVD [learned we could order replacement adjustable hinges to match color; references mentioned at bottom of this post]

C) perimeter bar is black, whereas the other french doors we have are stainless [currently thinking that is is not issue for us, given the the room we would be installing this french door has no other windows or french doors]

A references - From this post above, and the Marvin website, it seems that you can paint the exterior without losing the Marvin window warranty

https://www.marvin.com/products/collections/elevate/swinging-french-door Exterior Finish section states "If a design change calls for a new color down the road, our material can be painted without voiding our warranty."

B references - https://www3.marvin.com/WebDoc/Parts_Elevate_Outswing_French_Door.pdf

my questions are:

A) how visible is the perimeter bar?

B) would it be best to paint the exterior color (as stated in above thread by Marvin rep) before installation or after installation?

C) would it be best to replace the adjustable hinges before installation or after installation?

Curious to learn from folks that have experience with construction. I appreciate any advice.