This Is How Any Painter Or DIYer In Ann Arbor Should Paint Their Vinyl Exterior
You can paint vinyl siding like any other home exterior. Prepare the area, clean, scrape and repair, mask, paint, and remove the masking.
Discover the full process and more below-
Like A Dirty Chalkboard
“Saarraaahh! We need to talk about our vinyl siding,” Jason calls out.
Sarah walks outside to stand next to Jason. He points at their house. “See how it’s looking all chalky and uneven? We have to paint over it now because washing won’t do the trick anymore.”
Sarah frowns in thought. “Can you paint vinyl siding? How do you paint vinyl siding?” Jason’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Do you mean for us to do it? I thought we were going to hire somebody. We did look up the cost of exterior painting just the other day,” he points out.
“Well, let’s look it up anyway. I want to make sure whoever we hire knows the right way to do it. I don’t want to see this dirty chalkboard look on our house again for a long time,” Sarah says.
Jason pulls out his phone to do some digging. After looking on Google, here is what he finds:
7 Steps To Painting Vinyl Siding
- Prepare the area for painting
- Wash the vinyl siding clean
- Scrape off any loose paint
- Make any repairs
- Mask anything you don’t want the paint to get on
- Paint with 2 coats of a vinyl safe paint
- Remove the masking
More On These Steps
You’ll want to follow the best steps for preparing an area for painting. It protects the things you don’t want any paint to get on. It also makes cleaning up a lot easier.
Washing the vinyl is best done with a pressure washer. You may need a cleaning solution like TSP (trisodium phosphate) to get mildew, mold, and stuff like that off. They get between the paint and the siding. This means your paint won’t last nearly as long as it should.
Loose paint and damages also lessen paint life. Damages need fixing first for sure. Paint can make them stick out more and the damage will only get worse and cost more to fix.
Masking involves knowing how and which painter’s tape to use and sheets of plastic. Doors, windows, trim, and other things like that need masking. Remove the masking within a couple of hours for the best result.
The Best Paint For Vinyl Siding
The best paint for vinyl siding is 100% acrylic paint. Benjamin Moore’s Revive is a great example. It has more color options than most other brands.
It’s best to avoid dark colors as a final coat unless the paint you are using is safe for vinyl. Vinyl siding will warp from heat build-up. Darker colors absorb heat which makes them hotter and more likely to cause warping.
One coat will give you good protection but we always recommend two coats. This gives the best coverage and durability. This means you won’t need to spend time and money painting your house more often.
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“Wow, this was more information than I thought it would be! I feel like we could practically do it ourselves,” Jason jokes. “Let’s keep going and see if we can find out anything else,” Sarah suggests.
