Refinish Aluminum Windows

[Cory LaChance]

I recently bought my first rental property and would like to show off some DIY savings I was able to capture. The windows were in pretty bad shape and I budgeted to replace them, 8 in total for about $2500. Upon closer inspection, all of the windows functioned great, they just looked horrible. I put in a little elbow grease and scraped off the old paint, put on some new paint, & put new window panes in. Total cost investment is $275! It was a lot of work getting some of the old window glazing out, but totally worth it.

Window Before

Window After

[Robert M.]

fantastic job, 

what products did you use?

[Cory LaChance]

Thank you for the compliment!

For the glass panes, I just had my local hardware store cut them to size - $4.99/pane. I then took some clear silicone caulk and caulked them in. For the glazing, I used this. I just cut it to the length and 45'd the ends and snapped them into place. For the paint, I used Rustoleum Oil based door paint; cranberry for the outside and white for the interior.

[Mindy Jensen]

Wow, @Cory LaChance, those windows look awesome! How long did it take per window?

[Cory LaChance]

Thank you for the compliments! The first window took me around 3 hours and after that small learning curve I was able to knock the rest in about 1 hour a piece. I got all 8 windows done in a single weekend.