It used to be custom color vinyl windows were difficult – and expensive – to come by. You could have any color you wanted, as long as it was white, tan, or black.

“The cost justification doesn’t make sense,” says David Whisenhunt, President of ColorCoat, a company based in West Sacramento, CA. “Creating a limited run, custom color extrusion is costly and inefficient due to the extra set-up and time needed to accommodate it.”

ColorCoat has changed this scenario by offering window manufacturers two unique services: Applying a custom color to new windows before they’re shipped to the end-customer; and applying paint to extrusions shipped to them by the window manufacturers or direct from the vinyl extruder.

“We work directly with manufacturers and vinyl extruders to provide colors their customers can’t purchase in large volumes,” says Whisenhunt. “We then ship the painted windows or extrusions to the window manufacturer or direct to the builder.”

ColorCoat focuses on the “other” part of the market

Whisenhunt met company founder Marijus Bekeris in 2003. Bekeris, an artisan, had come to the United States and in the process of fishing around for a new application, had developed a method for painting vinyl.

“I thought it ludicrous at first” says Whisenhunt, “but Marijus was working with paint manufacturers and had set up a few operations in the backyards of large window manufacturers to apply custom colors to existing vinyl windows.”

Tan vinyl had been introduced, and consumers were pushing for black windows, even in places such as Yuma, AZ, where the average summer temperature can reach 109° or higher.

“A window manufacturer will change their process if enough demand exists,” says Whisenhunt, “but it rarely happens, which is why 80% of vinyl windows are made in white, tan, or black – with the remaining 20% being ‘other’ – consumers who want a custom color. That’s our sole area of focus.”

ColorCoat paints perfectly good windows . . .

For consumers wanting a custom color, a window manufacturer ships the windows to one of ColorCoat’s nine locations. The windows are inspected and masked based on drawings and specifications provided by the manufacturer, and surfaces are prepped prior to painting.

ColorCoat uses state-of-the-art industrial down-draft and cross-draft paint booths in its facilities. Experienced painters use high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) application equipment to precisely apply the paint coating.

Windows are dried in a heat-calibrated chamber and then unmasked, cleaned, and inspected. ColorCoat either ships the windows back to the manufacturer or to the builder. Due to their close-knit relationships with manufacturers, ColorCoat can apply branded labels and/or use branded shipping material prior to direct shipping.

And . . . they paint extrusions

For customers who can’t purchase colors in large volume, ColorCoat will paint extrusions – either shipped to them from the manufacturer or direct from the vinyl extruder.

For example, a vinyl extruder in Reno, NV, referred ColorCoat to its customer in Los Angeles, CA. The extruder shipped the material to ColorCoat in Sacramento, CA where team members painted the lineals and then shipped them to the extruder’s customer in Los Angeles.

Says Whisenhunt, “This transaction is a great example of the partnerships we’ve developed with extruders across the United States.”

Window manufacturers can now outsource all their painting

Painting in-house requires a paint booth, which takes up considerable floor space, and requires maintenance, adherence to OSHA and EPA regulations – and highly skilled painters.

Once a window manufacturer sees that ColorCoat can reduce paint lead times down to four days, versus the weeks-long lead time they often face in-house, plus ColorCoat’s high-quality work, they begin asking, “Why aren’t we outsourcing all of our painting?”

“In the past,” says Whisenhunt, “we’d shy away from manufacturers who had paint capabilities in-house. Today, they’re our number one customer to on-board.”

Over the last year, multiple ColorCoat customers have shut down their in-house paint operations and have removed their paint booths – freeing up floor space to build more windows.

“These manufacturers no longer have to worry about stocking paint,” says Whisenhunt, “and now their customers can have any color they want. They don’t have to worry about air permits or other EPA or OSHA paint-related items. They can focus on building windows.”

To keep lead times short, and shipping logistics as efficient and cost-effective as possible, ColorCoat has nine locations across the country, including three in the western US, three in the mid-west, one in Texas, and two on the east coast.

The company’s goal is to be the window painting experts bar none. A manufacturer may spend only 5% of their time improving their painting operation; ColorCoat, on the other hand, is continually focused on becoming better, faster and stronger.

To learn more about ColorCoat, and see their process in action, visit colorcoatinc.com.