my house has aluminum siding that needs painting. does anyone have info on what prep work is needed and what primer and paint is recommended.
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I talked to a paint store when I did it for someone--they suggested washing first with TSP (or TSP substitute) (always wet the whole wall first and wash from bottom up to prevent streaking (trust me on this)) to get rid of chalking (the walls I painted hadn't chalked, but I got a lot of grime off and that helps paint to stick!).
They then gave me a good primer (water-based) to which I added about a pint of something they gave me that looked like yellow carpenter's glue to each gallon. That really worked well. Primed with that and painted with a good waterbased paint (I think it was Ben-Moore acrylic-latex).
Wash from bottom up?
Wash from bottom up?
Yes. I know it seems wrong, but if the wash water with the TSP and all the dirt runs down the unwashed siding, it will elave tracks that you will never remove. That's why I said "trust me." Most people have to argue and learn the hard way, so I won't be surprised if people don't believe me and work from the top down. Do it your own way, but I was asked (don't remember if you are the OP or not) what to do and I told what I would do and it has worked for me. Take my advice or not, it was free, so I don't expect people think it's worth much.
Most people have to argue and learn the hard way,...
I did, so I'll a note of support for washing from the bottom up.
Thank you (I think).
I guess I'm overly sensitive about not being listened to right now--just got back from a church trip to rehab a house in Bayou La Batre and the group argued with everthing I said, every idea I had from start to finish. They have worked some on their own houses or on mission trips and so they know everything about every aspect of construction.
They are expert framers, and expert drywall installers--get upset when I suggest better ways of doing things, yet when I get there to finish the drywall, are gaps in corners ranging from tolerable to 1-1/2" wide and with no backer boards. Ceilings are wavy because the joists were all at different levels, yet when I suggest shimming and strapping, they refuse to listen. Plywood on floors butt in empty spaces between joists. No nailer on tops of walls for drywall, nor in corners--they blame the guy who built the house and bristle when I suggest that is part of rehabbing a house--to take care of those things the builder missed. Drywall has been abused--corners broken off, edges mashed, paper gouged. "Fix it, you're the mudder." Yeah, I'm a mudder all right!
Guy brings a super-duper drywall sander on a pole with a vacuum and metal disk. Like kids with a new toy, everyone wants to try it. When I say nothing is ready to be sanded, I am told "You've been mudding for most of the week and nothing is ready to sand?!" I try to reply civilly that I don't sand until before third coat (and darn little then) and then a light sanding after third coat--but nothing that would ever need this tool. I have also been running around through the whole house and whenever I find a layer of dry mud, I scrape down the high spots and apply more mud, so that's why everything is still wet. They insist, so I tell them that the living room ceiling has two coats of dry mud, so they could sand that. Then I storm out of the room and begin second coat on a bedroom ceiling. The crew leader tracks me down and says I should go out and learn how to use the sanding machine. I tell him that I don't like the machine, I would not use it, I do not want to even see it. He reluctantly leaves.
I go into the LR when they've finished sanding and are oh so happy with their work. They have sanded through the mud to the tape in many places, sanded through the tape in several places and even sanded through the drywall paper in a couple places. I am not amused. At the end of the day, when I am too tired to be able to kill anyone, I grab the crew leader and show them what they did and now that means I can start over with taping and mudding in that room. He shrugs.
They bring in a propane heater because I apply the mud too thick and it won't dry (nothing to do with the fact that it's been raining and cold and the house's heater isn't hooked up--someone cut the line to the thermostat). I tell them I think we should open some windows, as I am feeling sick and dizzy. The leader says they don't need venting. I open windows anyway and read the warning label on the heater--"For outside use only!" Then I spend an hour out in the fresh air trying to keep from throwing up.
Anyway, those are the highlights--other than the leader telling me I must be eating the mud because I am using so much. I wonder what he'd think if I did like he wanted and put five gallons on and sanded 2 gallons off each coat.
Anyway, that was my last trip with the church.
"Anyway, that was my last trip with the church."
Sounds like you needed a break.
No good deed goes unpunished......
Yeah--I took a break last year--didn't go on the trip in Feb. that rebuilt a lady's house in same area--she had something like 40 cats and I guess the smell was pretty bad. They trapped and got rid of all but a couple. Glad I missed that one because I tend to be allergic to cats.
(Generally are two church trips a year--one in February/March and one in October/Nov.) I missed the first one back in 2005 in November when I was with the BT group in Laurel, and I missed the cat lady trip. I think I made the others. Anyway, a break will be good for me and maybe they'll miss me--if not, I'll know I wasn't needed.
Hey Danno
Much not needed vacation huh''''
Been there and done that and you know what'' They still don't understand
And I'm fine with that and wont be back'''''''' Atleast until I need
another 6 month reminder of what a sucker I am..
Most times I've been down there, I have a meltdown in the middle of the week and when I call my wife I tell her I'm not going back. So this time when I told her, she said, "You always say that." But I think I've reached saturation. This time I went mainly because I heard that the owner's husband just divorced her (couldn't handle the aftermath of Katrina), that she had a couple teenage kids and they were living in a FEMA trailer (turns out that she and her daughter were living in a tent in a friend's back yard) and that the owner was depressed and desparate.
(Found out she is being treated for cancer--most likely treatment will help a bit with pain, but she isn't expected to have a good prognosis.) Many people have lost hope and have been driven to suicide. Anyway, I thought I could help and even thought I could get into this more--even stay a full month. But I was dreaming. Good thing I decided just to do two weeks (before had just done one). My wife is a brittle diabetic and now I see how stupid I was to risk her life by my being away, and for what? (I have awakened several times when wife had extremely low blood sugar and have had to even give her an injection of glucagon on four occasions, so while I'm down in the Bayou helping people, my own wife could be in danger, so another good reason to stay closer to home!)
I used to have a house painting company. We painted several aluminum sided homes.
You need to scrub the siding hard to get the chalky oxidized paint off before priming and painting. You can't just rinse it down. You need to scrub until the rinsing water becomes clear. It's a lot of work.
When priming or painting do not work in direct sunlight. The siding can get too hot in sunlight, especially dark colored siding.
Good Luck
Would a power washer accomplish the same thing? Or is scrubbing the answer.
You'll want to apply a blend like water/TSP directly to the siding which can be done with a very low volume on a pressure washer,
the idea being relying on the TSP to provide the cleansing and not the pressure of the powerwasher which will drive water behind the siding
which can cause long drying times and other problems that can be compounded.
Scrubbing also will remove any questionable dirt residues that might be problematic in having the paint adhere in it's greatest potential.
A light, fast skim sanding on the siding with an orbital sander can help provide a little more teeth for the paint and is not that laborious of an involvement for the better assurance of the best prep.
SherwinWilliams makes a paint specifically designed for aluminum siding that needs no special primer. Do two coats.
Get a Peach full,easy feelin'.
Thanks Rez
Lots of good info there. Will be painting the exterior of my house soon, and it will come in handy.
Gotta say though.....when you own a pressure washer, the whole world looks like it could use a good squirting down.....
Edited 3/29/2008 12:21 am ET by pickings
ya, it's that feeling of power it gives you where it seems nothing can stand in your way.
be gee, I wonder what I could do if I got a bigger one
Get a Peach full,easy feelin'.
I've seen aluminum siding that was deformed by pressure washers.
We have used Pratt and Lambert Accolade in the past.
Even with slight chalking it still bonds well.
A gentle pressure washing will remove all the surface residue necessary to provide a good substrate for paint. I would use a diluted TSP solution to clean the surface and rinse thoroughly.
Good luck, Jon
Russian saying
Hmm. This is very timely; I plan to paint my aluminum siding this spring. It's looking extremely tired.
Take a look at Floods website and check out EB (emulsabond sp?) I have used it in the past, sticks like crazy
sikkens has a great product for alluminum siding. Just painted moms house 4 different colors. check it out. sorry i could only find the before pictures but the paint job was beautiful.