Painting Aluminum & Vinyl Siding
Benefits of Painting Your Vinyl or Aluminum Siding
When your siding needs an update and/or repairs consider the benefits of painting it rather than replacing it.
- Aluminum and vinyl siding CAN be painted;
- You can use any color you desire;
- Painting will cost less than re-siding.
Aluminum and Vinyl Siding can last for many years without needing maintenance beyond occasional cleaning. But they don’t last forever. Eventually colors fade; areas and individual planks get damaged or discolored, or you may simply get tired of the color-scheme. Then you run up against the limitations of these types of siding:
- You can’t “match” the color of individual planks to replace damaged areas because your siding has faded over time;
- You can’t get new aluminum siding at all so replacing sections/planks of siding that has been damaged isn’t possible;
- Your choice of new siding colors are limited.
Extend the Life of Your Siding
When you re-side your house you just get siding. When OPPW paints your siding the job includes painting of gutters, downspouts, window and door casing and framing, window sashes, shutters, corner-trim, soffits, doors and garage doors too!
A whole-house paint job by OPPW extends the life of your siding for a fraction of the cost of replacing it, and offers a multitude of color choices not available in replacement siding.
Process
Our first step is to protectively cover nearby plants, trees, grass, other structures like sheds, decks, large items on decks (furniture, grills, etc.), and driveways.
Then we will mask doors and windows to protect them from pressure washing.
Surface Cleaning & Prep
Your aluminum or vinyl siding needs to be thoroughly cleaned before paint is applied. The type of cleaning needed depends on whether the siding has already been painted or not. Unpainted siding will be pressure washed and hand-scrubbed as needed. Previously painted siding will need loose paint to be removed, which may require hand-scraping in addition to pressure washing and scrubbing.
We will also remove loose and failing caulk and replace it with 35-years siliconized caulk. In addition we will clean rusted areas on antennas, utility pipes, etc.
Primer for Wood Components
Unpainted aluminum and vinyl siding does not need primer – primer is meant to penetrate wood but these sidings are impenetrable. But wood trims and other wooden elements DO need to be primed in advance of painting.
If your color-scheme includes accent colors for trim, etc. that differ from the house’s main body color, we will prime and apply two coats of paint to these elements. After they dry we will mask these elements with masking paper and tape, paying attention to creating straight lines. We can then proceed to painting the body of the house.
Shameless plug for multi-color color schemes: contrasting trim, shutters, doors, etc. can add tremendous personality to your home’s exterior. If you’re intimidated by selecting paint colors, take advantage of tools offered by Sherwin Willams: Sherwin Willams Color Visualizer and Sherwin Williams Color Consultations.
Applying Paint to Aluminum or Vinyl Siding
For best results, paint should be sprayed on to ensure smooth, solid coverage — brushing and rolling is not recommended for aluminum or vinyl siding.
After properly sprayed application of paint on properly cleaned surfaces, your siding will look like new.
Clean-up
Our goal is to leave your yard and driveway in the same shape it was in before we started. To that end we will remove all our masks and tarps and clean up any residual paint chips, spatter, etc. Time to enjoy your like-new house!
Project Time Frames
- A day to apply protective covers and wash the house
- 1-2 days for surface prep/repairs
- 2-3 days for painting
WEATHER PERMITTING — some things are out of our hands! Also, occasionally during prep we discover problems that add time to the job.
Crews are typically two or three people. They stay on the job until it’s done – OPPW does not schedule crews on multiple jobs simultaneously.
What Paint Brand Do We Use?
We recommend Sherwin Williams products and our default high quality paint is Sherwin Williams Acrylic Super Paint Satin. Two additional paint brands by Sherwin Williams that we recommend are Duration and Emerald (both are more expensive than Super Paint Satin). We write our estimates (unless otherwise directed) using the costs of Super Paint Satin.
Sometimes customers request we use other brands such as Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert, and Behr. All offer high-quality products and our warranty applies to any paint you choose.
