Painting metal frame in bathroom shower stall?

dave h

I have a standard 3' x 3' shower stall. And would like to replace all of our gold bathroom fixtures with nickel... and instead of replacing the entire shower stall -- is it possible to PAINT the metal frame around the glass (currently gold) with a nickel-color metal paint? If so, any suggestions re: type of paint, etc.... and will it look decent? Thanks!

sirwired

It is unlikely that painting a shower door frame would stick for any length of time. A shower is simply too punishing of an environment. There are epoxies available for coating tubs and showers, but I do not know if they are available in metallic finishes. In addition, I do not think they would look good on the frame.

SirWired

dave h

Thx, SirWired. That's probably why I haven't been able to find any other information on this - b/c it's apparently not a viable option.
dave h

BJLower

They are coming out with new products all the time that can really help a DIYer. They've had a paint that you can actually paint Formica cabinets with that I used about 2 years ago when it first came out. It made the cabinets look new and it is so tough that there isn't a mark on after 2 years.

I'm sure that you'll be able to find a product that you'll be able to put on that will last and look good, but not in a metal finish. About the only people that can put a metal like paint on metal are cutom car painters. Needless to say it would be a lot cheaper to replace everything.

wynay

If sanded, primed and painted with the correct metal paint, you can paint shower stall trim. Remove the stall and take the glass away from the trim if possible. You might want to take it to an auto paint shop and see if they can paint it with an auto paint in a metallic color that is close to nickel or chrome. Should stand up to the 'weathering' of a shower stall. Wynay

DarthPainter

Use a quality Direct To Metal Paint with a nice bonding primer, and it should be fine. Will it be perfectly metallic? No, but it will still come out very, very nice if done right. I've done a number of bathroom objects with DTM.

You should also use a foam mini roller cover to leave as little texture as possible.

montater

If you REALLY want to change the color and be SURE that it will hold, then having it powder coated is the answer. In fact, many shower door companies use powder coating. Word on the street (or internet) is that spray paints won't stand up to the moisture and cleaning over time.

Powder coating is a process where a powder is sprayed electrostatically onto the piece and then the finish is baked on (about 400 degrees).

You would need to completely dissassemble then entire frame and take the metal pieces (screws and all) to a powder coating shop. You will have the choice of 20 kabillion colors and effects. They should be able to do it in anywhere from a day to a week depending on their schedule.

I did this with my old polished brass colored (anodized aluminum actually) frame that was L-Shaped (about 3' x 4'). It was A LOT OF WORK, but, cost me only $150 vs. about 8 to 10 times that ($1,100 to $1,5000 to replace it. I took pictures and videos of the disassembly and made notes of where every little piece went, etc. Fortunately, all of the rubber sealing strips were re-usable. I put the screws in a piece of cardboard so they would stay in one place and those were powder-coated also (wood instead of cardboard would have been better).

This was part of a full bath remodel where the old shower walls and tile was all replaced, so, I had to be sure it was built to accept the existing shower frame. That's bass-ackward form how it's normally done when the shower walls and tile is built first and then frame/glass is built to fit that. So, that was a difficult process.

Re-assembling it all was tough also. The notes, photos and videos paid off. It was a LOT of work and I might recommend just buying a new one instead, but, if you have the time, patience, ability and inclination then have at it.

We've been using our for a couple of months now and I have even scratched it a few times, but, nothing happend to the finish. It's pretty tough and it looks great and like it's brand new.

Tmags2

Hi,

I don't want to replace all of my shower glass, just the gold frame. Does anyone know a company that will do this? I live near the Akron/Cleveland Ohio area.

Thanks,

Tmags