You want to sell your home, and your agent tells you it needs more “curb appeal.” You have a feeling that she means your acid green vinyl siding has to go. Must you replace it, or can you simply paint over the ugly color?
You can paint over home siding that’s fairly new and in good condition — with professional help. Painting vinyl siding is not a DIY project. Here’s why:
• You can’t afford mistakes in prep — the paint won’t stick and you’ll have a mess. A good prep includes power washing, scrubbing mildew and resinous dirt, rinsing completely, and roughing up your siding’s protective coating.
• Vinyl siding is highly elastic, expanding and contracting with temperature changes, and the wrong paint or technique will cause warping.
• You need high-grade acrylic latex paint, which is also elastic and bonds to vinyl.
• Your new color must be lighter than the old one. Lighter siding is not engineered to withstand the added heat absorption caused by darker paint. Darker paint could cause buckling. Looking for an exterior painter? Search our network of approved contractors now.
• Avoid painting in direct sunlight if possible. Cloudy days produce better paint jobs.
• Apply two coats of paint for maximum adhesion and flexibility.
Oh dear… at what point does it become too late to fix a DIY job?
Always call a professional for “big projects” ! The cost of fixing a mistake on a large scale painting job could be insane. Cleaning and scrubbing a failed fresh paint job can be a real nightmare and cost you many many extra hours of work + the cost of the wasted materials that you bought to try to do the job yourself.
Painting vinyl siding can be very disastrous if not done correctly. Not only will cause discomfort to the homeowner but also it would mean more expenses in the long run. Thank you for posting this very informative article.
Hardiplank Siding Houston
Vinyl siding was created to withstand the elements and not require painting, but there’s plenty of old vinyl out there that could use a new topcoat finish. The key to painting vinyl siding is to use a good-quality acrylic latex exterior paint that will be flexible and withstand climate changes, and still provide a good bond to the vinyl siding. A water-based acrylic exterior paint is a good choice because it goes on easily and has leveling properties, so it adheres to both smooth and textured surfaces. Another plus: latex paint makes cleaning up brushes and rollers easy.