I understand it to mean that they tried to tidy or freshen them up, but it was a bit of a notched attempt, hence my suggestion of 'rafistoler'.

However, soemthing bothers me slightly, in that they mention 'glass paint' — are these by any chance glass doors? If so, rather than patch up, it might have the sense of 'to brighten them up' — i.e. not repaint soemthing that was already painted, but rather, attempt to paint attractive (?) designs on glass doors that were previously plain; in whaich case, you might try some derogatory word with the sense of 'enjoliver' or 'égayer' — but this seems odd to me, as I haven't often seen glass doors on lifts, certainly not in older buildings.

What country is this from? It may be that 'glass paint' means soemthing else in that country (i.e. not paint for painting on glass) — could this even be a misprint for 'gloss paint' (peinture / laque brillante)?

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Note added at 16 mins (2013-03-13 20:48:41 GMT)
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Re-reading your question, with the comment about the thick paint and the brush swirls, I am more than ever convinced it was meant to be 'gloss paint' — sounds a bit like an American writer dictating to an English typist (gloss with an American accent sounding a lot closer to 'glass' in British English pronunciation)!

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Note added at 25 mins (2013-03-13 20:57:59 GMT)
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Aha! It's your fault then that I got all verbose about nothing ;-)

Please therefore disregard all comments above about 'glass paint'.

Dans le même ordre d'idée, j'aime bien "rabibocher"!

Une possibilité en tournant un peu différemment :
pour essayer de les ravoir.
Ou bien, de les arranger.