How to Paint Aluminum Siding?

Answer 1

You may have bought a house with aluminum siding in the past several years. One thing you should certainly know if you own one is how to paint the siding.

The first step to painting the siding is determining whether or not your siding is actually made from aluminum. Steel siding can also be made from galvanized steel, and the difference may not be immediately obvious. If you do have galvanized steel siding, make sure to use a latex paint instead of an oil-based paint.

The second step is to clean the siding. You need to clean it thoroughly. Use detergent with water and scrub over the surface of the entire siding thoroughly. Once you’re done, make sure to spray the entire siding with a hose. After removing all remnants of soapy suds and detergent, let the siding dry.

The next step is to add a layer of primer to the siding. If the siding was indeed painted before with a latex paint, you can skip this step. Other wise, you should probably use an oil-based primer. Latex-based primer may react with the aluminum to create air bubbles that could negatively affect your paint job.

Next, you should sand the siding. Only sand it lightly. If you are going to add a coat of acrylic latex to siding already painted with acrylic latex, you may be able to skip this step.

Lastly, you need to add the finishing coat to your siding. The finishing coat should be acrylic latex. There are a number of ways to add this final coat, but using either a foam roller or an airless sprayer to apply the paint are probably the best options.

If you use a roller, though, you may need to add two coats to give your siding good coverage. You should also add Flood Floetrol paint conditioner to the acrylic latex. This will allow the paint to dry slowly so it levels out better.

After this final step, simply let it dry. You are now done. Repainting your siding will keep your house looking beautiful and will make it much more attractive to buyers if you ever wish to sell it.