Painting windows

[neff]

Right - the venue I work in wants to semi-permenantly blackout all the windows in our main performance space. One of the things we are looking into doing is painting the windows.

 

Anyone know if there is a specific or specialist paint for doing this sort of thing? Or can anone suggest a simpler permenant method.

 

By the way this is for a UK high school.

 

Cheers

[TomLyall]

How long do they need to be blacked out for? Are curtains / blinds not an option?

 

I'd suggest boarding over the windows rather than painting them. It might be a bit more work and cost upfront, but removing (even the right type) of paint from windows is an awful job. Removing boards would be much quicker, and you can reuse them easily.

[Tregilibob]

Sheets of black MDF etc with bolts in corners, and holes in window frames (if wood) or something like that was suggested at my college. The H & S man said "no, you might trap your fingers putting them in" even though it would be done by technical theatre students, we don't work at height or anything??!!?

[Dj Dunc]

We have removable blackout panels for all our windows in the studio at our school which work wonders, with 4 twist clips on each baord they do the job perfectly

[Just Some Bloke]

In answer to the question in the title, the answer, IMHO, is "no".

 

The only venues I've been in which have had their windows painted black either have an appalling blackout or have added something else, like shutters or boarding, as well. Unless you put loads and loads of coats of paint on the window, the total thickness of the paint won't be enough to keep the light from soaking through. Then it only needs the tiniest little scratch in the paint for there to be a small way for the light to get in and your blackout has gone for good.

 

Many schools/village halls have tried black paper. That doesn't work either. Sorry, but it'll have to be something thicker like board I'm afraid.

[Andrew C]

There is a specific glass primer, and it sticks VERY well well too! Once applied you can paint the inside black to look nice, but the outside is not all that nice, a sort of pale grey.

[w/robe]

I once worked in a rehearsal room that had, bizarrely, painted out its windows with what looked like black gloss. It was very dark but certainly not a black out.

[paulears]

Er, I'm going to be controversial here. Black emulsion, two coats. In direct sunlight it lasts about a year before it cracks and you need another coat. It is quick, easy to apply and isn't a big deal. From outside looks glossy and nice, inside - well, it's dark and you can't see!

[Tomo]

Sheets of black MDF etc with bolts in corners, and holes in window frames (if wood) or something like that was suggested at my college. The H & S man said "no, you might trap your fingers putting them in" even though it would be done by technical theatre students, we don't work at height or anything??!!?

Then your H&S guy doesn't understand how risk assessments and method statements work.

Although your "even though..." is wrong as well!

 

"You might trap your fingers" is a very real risk.

So you introduce suitable control measures - eg handles on the MDF, which could also reduce other manual handling risks.

You don't cancel the entire idea - you work out how to achieve the result safely!

(That might require a completely different method though)

 

Back to the OP:

I have painted windows to achieve blackout (there's actually a photo on Google Earth of me doing it!), and it does work, BUT:

 

1) You have to paint both sides of the window. Just the inside or just the outside looks terrible and lets a fair bit of light through, especially when it gets slightly scratched.

2) It takes many coats.

3) If it's going to last, you need specialist paint - some form of glass primer, then a very dense and thick outdoor quality black paint.

 

(I used some very nasty stuff designed for painting concrete - the COSHH sheet was rather scary)

 

If it's at all possible, hardboard or MDF is a better solution - unfortunately in some situations this isn't possible!

[3guk]

Don't try and wash it off though, its a nightmare, clogs up drains galore if it is on the outside. To be honest, get some black material and staple it to the frame, if the frames are wooden, the whole idea of painting windows disturbs me.

 

I've seen it done before and it gets tatty really quickly !!!

[timmath]

Black Foamex and Velcro...

 

Fomex is light weight and flexible (it will bend before you crush your fingers and is fire proof)

Velcro sticks to both foamex and glass (you can remove it when not needed)

 

Regards

 

Tim

[Suzette]

I'm with paulears here -- black emulsion, couple of coats... our onstage theatre windows are black!

Have no idea what it looks like from the outside as the outside is not viewable from an area we can access.

(But the OP didn't say anything about it looking nice, just wanting a blackout)

 

Edit -

semi-permenantly blackout or permanent method

??? Neff what are you after? Painting is pretty much permanent.

[Jivemaster]

The truly Arty way would be to board the windows and paint the inside with a thespie scene or even a realistic view from the blocked window.

 

Black paint works, but only til the first scratch, and really doesnt look good for audience spaces.

[neff]

Hmm.. thanks for the repies.

 

This is going to be a permenant sollution for about 12 months till we move into our nice shiny new school...

 

We have a nice supply of black paint but not so easy to get hold of wood/sheeting so the possibility of a number of coats of paint will prob be the best option.

 

Looking good from the outside isn't an issue - in fact it may add to the state of the building! The windows won't be seen from the inside as they have very inneffecive curtains on them...

[paulears]

[bang head against wall mode] Emulsion paint on the inside of the glass looks solid, and dense from the outside. If you don't believe me, try it on an old bitand you'll see. it will crack in sunlight, as I said, but another coat on the inside cures it. If as you say it is only for a year, give it a go. Or as I did, get the students to do it. What we actually did was turn the wall into a set - we painted the wall and wondows a very dark blue (Bosun) better than black, then we painted the entire thing to look like an Elizabethan house, using the windows as the 'set' windows, painting the frames in. When we'd done, the entire thing went back to Bosun again. Glass wise there were no problems at all, and from outside it looked as if the glass was solid blue.