Painting Speaker Grills

Inner10

Dear Painters,

I install a fair amount of in-wall speakers in residential and commercial environments many of which are "paintable" yet I have never seen a really really good paint job. Thus far I have seen painters do the following:

(my favorite) Dab on some paint then blast it through the holes with an aircompressor, slowly doing the entire grill.

Slap on some paint then suck it through the holes with a shop-vac.

Use a dry brush and do several coats.

Use a sponge and very lightly rub the paint on the speaker.

Use a low-pickup roller.

So what is your preferred method? I've never even attempted it myself I always get the painter on site to do it or send them to a painter friend of mine (who does one of the best jobs I know of and uses the air compressor method).

Cheers!

jfranklin

spray them

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genecarp

You never saw anyone just spray them?, GMOD

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Inner10

Once, a basement remodeler sprayed a pair of NuVo's (really small holes) and filled them up....he then thought it was a good idea to use a blow torch to burn the paint out of the holes.

The sad part is this is true...He ended up buying new grills.

ModernStyle

I try to talk the customer out of painting them when I can, they are a pain in the ass.

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Leo G

Just replace the grill material with the appropriate color. There a many manufacturers out there now that produce them. The best thing to do would be to dye them instead of paint them. No chance of the holes filling and affecting the sound.

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Inner10

Absolutely, and they never turn out perfect. To get the inside of all the holes without filling them is quite the feat.

Who makes them? I've never sold a brand of in-wall or in-ceiling speakers that offered different colored grills.

Are you thinking of a material grill?

BCConstruction

I have some I'm about to do and the place i bought them from builds home theaters and they say they just water down the paint and apply a few coats. The ones they have in the show rooms look fine.

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Leo G

Yes just material.

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WarnerConstInc.

Powder coat?

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Leo G

You do realize you have to put a powder coat in an oven to melt it, right?

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WarnerConstInc.

You guys are talking about fabric ones?

Well then, have some covered to match.

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BCConstruction

I have never seen them with cloth front on in wall speakers. Normally you have a 1" or so bezel that can also be painted to match the wall and the grills are metal and either clipped in place or magnetic. After you have sprayed them you stick the dust cover fabric inside the metal grill to stop any dust from entering the speaker area. It would be pretty hard to find fabris to match the millions of different wall colors they do but they may make them like that.

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Inner10

BC is correct.

They are metal.

Yup, still tough to get an even coat in the holes to get rid of the mosaic look when you look at the grill and walk around. I've been told oil based paint with and air compressor works best since it dries slower.

It would fill the holes. I've done alot of work for a local powder coating company and I know from having things powder coated that it would not only be very cost prohibitive it would fill the holes with an enamel that is so hard you would destroy the grills trying to clear out the holes.

We are talking about pin holes.

BCConstruction

I thought i might try a watered down mixture in a flat shallow pan and then dip them in the pan and let dry lay flat and the do this 2-3 times to see if they take.

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Inner10

Sounds like a good idea, but be ready with a can of duster or compressed air to clear the holes.

world llc

can of spray paint if in stock color (white, black, linnen...) or a qt. of custom color in oil sprayed with hvlp or dry brushed...

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BillD

I always used the same paint that was on the wall/ceiling in a preval spray bottle, you can get at SW, and did several light coats.

Bill

genecarp

What is a Preval spray bottle?, GMOD

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BillD

It is a small bottle which you can fill with paint that has a spray can (for lack of better explaination) on the top. It allows you to spray any type of paint, although in very small amounts, and is perfect for this type of thing. You can get it at Sherwin Williams.

Bill