While a good few layers of spray paint will help protect your UPVC, the paint will still be susceptible to damage by mechanical means. The UPVC will also still be susceptible to deep scratches and pitting. For example, scraping a mortar trowel against your UPVC would cause a scratch, which probably won’t come as a surprise.
If you have damaged the painted finish of your UPVC, the good news is repairing the damage is possible. The extent of the damage will determine what route to take, so run your finger along the scratches to determine this. Shallow scratches can be buffed out if the paint is thick enough, but deeper scratches will need filling.
Light scratches
If the paint has light scratches, such as swirl marks on a glossy finish or claw marks on a matte finish, you can try buffing these out.
Firstly, clean the surface and rub it with isopropyl alcohol to remove contaminants. Then take a damp microfibre cloth, apply two pea-sized amounts of car polish or furniture polish to it, and rub in the direction of the UPVC. Take your time with this. It will take ten minutes of buffing to see any significant progress.
When you think the scratches are gone, wipe the area down with a fresh damp cloth and check the results under a torch. You can use the LED flashlight on the back of your phone for this. If scratches remain, try buffing again.
Deep scratches
Deep scratches can only be removed by sanding down to the naked UPVC surface, filling the scratches where necessary and repainting the UPVC to blend in the repair.
This is the job for a professional like us, but you can try the repair yourself. Mask off the scratched area. Use 800 grit, 1500 grit and 2000 grit sandpaper to remove the layers of paint where the scratch is, until no paint remains. Then fill in the scratches where necessary with a suitable plastic filler, and sand the filler down so it’s flush. The surface must be silky smooth to paint, just like factory fresh UPVC.
The surface will now be ready for painting. Blending in a repair with fresh paint is the job of a professional and it’s something we can do. Please contact us if you have damaged the paint on your UPVC. We’ll pop round to assess the damage and quote you there and then.
