Painting Aluminum Siding

[Worksmart]

Good Morning All - I know painting aluminum siding is a bit tricky and can fail quickly if it's not prepped correctly. What is the PROPER way to prep it for paint? Is there some kind of cleaning/etching product to help with the adhesion of the paint to the aluminum? Thanks C

 

[Bird]

Worksmart, there are aluminum primers available if you have new aluminum. If it's older aluminum that has been painted in the past, according to what I've read, and a paint dealer told me, the old paint is a good primer if it's clean. About 15 years ago, my parents had an old mobile home down at the coast that was looking bad, and I just scrubbed it down with one of those revolving brushes on the end of a wand hooked to a garden hose. Then I sprayed it, using a Wagner power painter, with latex paint made for aluminum; still looked pretty good 8 years later; haven't seen it since then.

 

[kubmech]

Worksmart....I can't believe you posted that question/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I was just getting ready to ask the same thing. That's wierd, well thanks for the input Bird. Mine was factory painted.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The biggest thing is to have it clean, the old paint starts to chalk which doesn't allow the new paint to stick. We use a 3000 psi pressure washer to wash them down, it does a great job of removing the chalk and cleaning any other dirt off of the siding making a nice surface for the paint.

 

[Worksmart]

Thanks all. I figured a good power washing/cleaning was a necessity. I'll check for a specific primer for aluminum, Bird. Just curious, is it some type of etching primer? I would think any type of "bite" the paint can get will help the durability. C