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Colored Duratex


ThomasD.

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Not sure this is the right Forum to ask this but it is a 'modification' question. 

Full disclosure, I just acquired a pair of JBL 4412a's w/ the ugly vinyl ( I know, I know, not Klipsch's but haven't come across any older Klipsch pro/industrial boxes yet and these just happened to come available for $250 and thought I'd try them out).  Plan on using them for occasional outdoor 'Deck Duty".  Will add metal corners, handles & Duratex to them.  How do you tint Duratex?  Need grey to meet WAF on our Trex composite decking.  Contacted Acrytech a while back about a custom tint but no word back yet.  HD... & Low.. says they won't tint anything that isn't bought there.  Was wondering if anyone had just mixed the white & black Duratex together for a grey composition?  Is this really that big a deal?  Am I missing another product that would work for this application? 

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8 hours ago, ThomasD. said:

Not sure this is the right Forum to ask this but it is a 'modification' question. 

Full disclosure, I just acquired a pair of JBL 4412a's w/ the ugly vinyl ( I know, I know, not Klipsch's but haven't come across any older Klipsch pro/industrial boxes yet and these just happened to come available for $250 and thought I'd try them out).  Plan on using them for occasional outdoor 'Deck Duty".  Will add metal corners, handles & Duratex to them.  How do you tint Duratex?  Need grey to meet WAF on our Trex composite decking.  Contacted Acrytech a while back about a custom tint but no word back yet.  HD... & Low.. says they won't tint anything that isn't bought there.  Was wondering if anyone had just mixed the white & black Duratex together for a grey composition?  Is this really that big a deal?  Am I missing another product that would work for this application? 

Easy peasey you just buy some tintable base and go to your local Sherwin Williams paint dealer and have him add water based tint to it. You may have to hold their hand the first time and explain what you are doing and you are not going to hold them responsible for the result. You can also go to Duratex in Florida where they make the stuff and they can tint for you.

  You need a pro paint store because yes big box stores will not do anything.

  You might need a LOT of white paint to dilute the black enough to match grey. Unless they are plywood you better not let them stay outside for rains and heavy dew unless you like to see MDF crumble.

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Hmm..  we’ve got a Sherwin Williams store  in town. If I go that route I’d probably have to order a gallon of white Duratex, thinking it would be easier to tint than the black. That’s why I was hoping to just order the color I wanted from them. Just didn’t know if they still custom tinted and what color deck they used. 

Also will most likely need to remove the existing vinyl with a heat gun since nothing much sticks to ugly vinyl. They aren’t going to be left outside, just used outside. But weather happens so wanted them as protected as possible and added handles will make them easier for my wife to take in and out 😂

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I would try using the Duratex on the vinyl first just to see how well it will adhere as you might get lucky. That vinyl is another layer of weather resistance so save it if you can. Another tip I have heard that may help you is to lay the speakers on their back and spray the woofers down with Scotchgard and let dry. It is supposed to provide weather resistance yet not change the sound of the speaker. You leave those outside to much you are going to need all the help you can get to keep doom and destruction away.

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Funny,  how timing is everything.  I post this thread and less than 24 hours later I get a response from Acrytech.  So, to their credit I'll post the response.

Hi Thomas,
 I’m sorry to hear that your local store won’t tint your white DuraTex®. We have more & more customers that are telling us that these days so we actually even stopped selling the Ultra Deep Tint Base that the darker custom colors are made from. Sorry for the inconvenience!
 Yes, we can custom tint colors here but the color decks that we use here would be hard for you to find, unfortunately. We do have color decks here for Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, Behr & Glidden though. We tell people to find a color that they like somewhere local to them & let us know what the color name, number & manufacturer are – for example, “Essential Gray” SW6002 by Sherwin Williams or “Anchor Gray” #2126-30 by Benjamin Moore. Then if it’s a color that we don’t have in one of our decks then we can try to go to the local store here & get a color swatch. If it’s a color that we can’t get locally then we may need you to send us the color swatch for us to match the color. We can’t make custom colors from a photograph or from a computer monitor – we actually need something that we can physically take out to our tinting area to match the color.
 Grays are the most difficult color to determine which tint base the color will come out of because they can be made 3 different ways – the lighter ones come from the White version & the darker ones can come from either the Black version or the Ultra Deep Tint Base version. I have to actually look at a formula that we have for a color that is close to determine which tint base to make the color from. I can’t tell just by looking at the color with grays like I can with other colors that are more obvious.  
 Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if you need any additional information. Thanks!
 Best regards,
 Miki Cappello
 Miki Cappello
Acry-Tech Coatings, Inc.
Office: (954) 565-6001 x 203

 

I'm responding with the question adhesion to the existing vinyl and the idea of just mixing the white & black since I'm not matching any specific gray.

 

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34 minutes ago, ThomasD. said:

Funny,  how timing is everything.  I post this thread and less than 24 hours later I get a response from Acrytech.  So, to their credit I'll post the response.

Hi Thomas,
 I’m sorry to hear that your local store won’t tint your white DuraTex®. We have more & more customers that are telling us that these days so we actually even stopped selling the Ultra Deep Tint Base that the darker custom colors are made from. Sorry for the inconvenience!
 Yes, we can custom tint colors here but the color decks that we use here would be hard for you to find, unfortunately. We do have color decks here for Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, Behr & Glidden though. We tell people to find a color that they like somewhere local to them & let us know what the color name, number & manufacturer are – for example, “Essential Gray” SW6002 by Sherwin Williams or “Anchor Gray” #2126-30 by Benjamin Moore. Then if it’s a color that we don’t have in one of our decks then we can try to go to the local store here & get a color swatch. If it’s a color that we can’t get locally then we may need you to send us the color swatch for us to match the color. We can’t make custom colors from a photograph or from a computer monitor – we actually need something that we can physically take out to our tinting area to match the color.
 Grays are the most difficult color to determine which tint base the color will come out of because they can be made 3 different ways – the lighter ones come from the White version & the darker ones can come from either the Black version or the Ultra Deep Tint Base version. I have to actually look at a formula that we have for a color that is close to determine which tint base to make the color from. I can’t tell just by looking at the color with grays like I can with other colors that are more obvious.  
 Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if you need any additional information. Thanks!
 Best regards,
 Miki Cappello
 Miki Cappello
Acry-Tech Coatings, Inc.
Office: (954) 565-6001 x 203

 

I'm responding with the question adhesion to the existing vinyl and the idea of just mixing the white & black since I'm not matching any specific gray.

 

Bet they will tell you to experiment on a small section and see about adhesion. They will make gray I can tell you but a consistent color match if you have to mix a new batch will be hard.

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Have to say, once contact was made, they've been very helpful.  Here is the latest reply.

 

Hi Thomas,
 You’re most welcome for the information. Here’s the answers to your other questions:
 1.      Yes, the vinyl should be removed first for a quality job. I’ve attached a PDF about “Reface the Case” – a rehab project we did on a road case. The concept is the same for you except you will be removing vinyl & in this PDF it is carpet that is being removed – the surface preparation is all the same.
2.      Yes, you can absolutely mix white DuraTex® & black DuraTex® until you get the shade of gray that you want. We have several customers that have done this previously. (I should have said that there are 4 ways to make gray colors).
3.      If you want to order a gallon of tinted DuraTex® you just need to tell us what color gray you want – the name, number & manufacturer of the color. The zip code you provided is coming up as Fairbanks, AK so the shipping charges on this are higher than usual. The shipping cost to 99712 is $46.60 for one gallon of custom color DuraTex® via the U.S. Postal Service 3 Day Priority Service.
 Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!
 Best regards,
 Miki Cappello
 Miki Cappello
Acry-Tech
Coatings, Inc.
Office: (954) 565-6001 x 203
www.acrytech.com
 

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1 hour ago, ThomasD. said:

Have to say, once contact was made, they've been very helpful.  Here is the latest reply.

 

Hi Thomas,
 You’re most welcome for the information. Here’s the answers to your other questions:
 1.      Yes, the vinyl should be removed first for a quality job. I’ve attached a PDF about “Reface the Case” – a rehab project we did on a road case. The concept is the same for you except you will be removing vinyl & in this PDF it is carpet that is being removed – the surface preparation is all the same.
2.      Yes, you can absolutely mix white DuraTex® & black DuraTex® until you get the shade of gray that you want. We have several customers that have done this previously. (I should have said that there are 4 ways to make gray colors).
3.      If you want to order a gallon of tinted DuraTex® you just need to tell us what color gray you want – the name, number & manufacturer of the color. The zip code you provided is coming up as Fairbanks, AK so the shipping charges on this are higher than usual. The shipping cost to 99712 is $46.60 for one gallon of custom color DuraTex® via the U.S. Postal Service 3 Day Priority Service.
 Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!
 Best regards,
 Miki Cappello
 Miki Cappello
Acry-Tech
Coatings, Inc.
Office: (954) 565-6001 x 203
www.acrytech.com
 

OK what he is not telling you is any adhesive that bonds the vinyl to the wood also has to go to. I would sure try a small area first without removing to see how it holds up. Once dry you can pry and poke and see if it adheres well. Good luck  on your project and keep us updated on results.

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