About painting a steel sided building

[tpcannon]

I have a steel sided pole barn that I use as a garage. It was built in 1987. I have a steel sided, steel framed shop building built around 1995. Both are ugly beige colors and I've considered painting them but I wonder if the paint would stand up to the rigors of Colorado winters, wind, and the intense sun at 6400' elevation in summers. The only thing that could make these buildings uglier would be peeling paint.
Does anyone have any recent experience painting propanel steel siding? If done right, how long can I expect it to last? Thanks for sharing any experience you've had.

 

[newbury]

First of all - Plan on next summer when you can set aside a time of good warm/hot weather to get the paint to stick.
With modern paints (especially epoxy) there's bound to be something that will work in your area, but it might be expensive (isn't everything).
In Mississippi I can just about slap on any paint and it lasts for years.

 

[tomplum]

I'm thinking about sprucing up my old pole building. Everything I've built since is white, but the 1998 model pole shed is that lovely beige. Some talk about Sher Cryl by Sherwin Williams. I haven't investigated it with my local paint store though. I did paint a small building that we made with those insulated steel panels w/ regular house paint. So far so good, but it hasn't been a year yet.

 

[scaredychicken]

my neighbour had her used Shipping Container painted by her son and daughter in law, just 2 weeks ago ... October
the couple are semi professional builders / painters / maintenance people
they prepped the surface, and use TREMCLAD paint, and rolled it on

i'm guessing that it will withstand weather, elements for several years, as this was not their first rodeo, and this was their preferred paint ... time will tell. BC winters can be harsh

i agree, plan for late Spring / Summer to do the work

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

All I can offer is my experience. I had a large strongpanel garage built in 1990. It's beige, white roof. The construction company is great, built another smaller garage for me 2010, horse stable 2020, new roof on an old tobacco barn, etc.
The 1990 garage was fine except oak tree limbs rubbed paint off the ridge vent and part of cupola, my fault...I should have kept limbs trimmed. I called the construction company who said a whole new roof would be $9,000. Then I called a highly rated paint contractor who said quality Sherwin Williams etching primer, paint, after pressure wash, etc would be $6,000 so I chose that. Company had 5 star review and a friend in California's brother is a highly respected paint contractor who's company painted Bill Gates home. He said materials this guy was using was the best.
So he painted main garage and smaller garage roofs.
This was about 5 years ago. Had to be one of the worst mistakes of my life. The original strongpanel has a baked on finish. The painted panels within months started turning black from mold (painter blamed tree shade), he repainted under warranty but same thing a few months later. The paint is peeling, the sunny parts had this stuff looks like green lichen you see growing on trees on it. Overall it's just a big mess and I'd never ever do it again.
Other's experience may vary, I'm just posting what happened here.

 

[tpcannon]

All I can offer is my experience. I had a large strongpanel garage built in 1990. It's beige, white roof. The construction company is great, built another smaller garage for me 2010, horse stable 2020, new roof on an old tobacco barn, etc.
The 1990 garage was fine except oak tree limbs rubbed paint off the ridge vent and part of cupola, my fault...I should have kept limbs trimmed. I called the construction company who said a whole new roof would be $9,000. Then I called a highly rated paint contractor who said quality Sherwin Williams etching primer, paint, after pressure wash, etc would be $6,000 so I chose that. Company had 5 star review and a friend in California's brother is a highly respected paint contractor who's company painted Bill Gates home. He said materials this guy was using was the best.
So he painted main garage and smaller garage roofs.
This was about 5 years ago. Had to be one of the worst mistakes of my life. The original strongpanel has a baked on finish. The painted panels within months started turning black from mold (painter blamed tree shade), he repainted under warranty but same thing a few months later. The paint is peeling, the sunny parts had this stuff looks like green lichen you see growing on trees on it. Overall it's just a big mess and I'd never ever do it again.
Other's experience may vary, I'm just posting what happened here.

Thanks, Fud. Do you live in a high humidity climate? It’s semi-arid here. No problem with shade or moisture. I really appreciate hearing about bad experiences. I worry about the fact that these old panels have baked-on paint. As such, they’re pretty much maintenance-free. At my age, the last thing I want to do is to create more maintenance chores. Do I live with ugly or do I take a chance on creating a possible nightmare?

 

[jyoutz]

I would go to a quality brand paint store (one where professionals get their supplies) and talk with the people there about what you want to do. I once had a friend who was a professional painter paint a galvanized steel barn for me. He prepped it with a cleaner that micro-etched the metal, then sprayed a primer, and later a top coat. That paint lasted for years. I wish that I could remember what paint he used, but I think it was an acrylic enamel of some type.

 

[MossRoad]

I would go to a quality brand paint store (one where professionals get their supplies) and talk with the people there about what you want to do. I once had a friend who was a professional painter paint a galvanized steel barn for me. He prepped it with a cleaner that micro-etched the metal, then sprayed a primer, and later a top coat. That paint lasted for years. I wish that I could remember what paint he used, but I think it was an acrylic enamel of some type.

That's pretty much what we did. Went to a paint store, told them I have a steel sided garage that the brown paint is fading. I want to paint it the same color as my house. What should I do/use.

They told me to power was it and if the paint was in good shape and just faded (it was), to just spray over it with "this paint". Wish I could remember what it was. I took in a sample of the house siding and they color matched it.

I bought an inexpensive Wagner power painter hand-held sprayer. Power washed the garage one day. Painted it the next. I think I used about 3 gallons of color paint and a quart for trim.

Honestly, it took longer to clean the paint sprayer than it did to spray each side.

It's been about 10 years and still looks great.

So, my recommendation would be to go to a paint store and tell them what you have, and what you want to do.

 

[tpcannon]

That's pretty much what we did. Went to a paint store, told them I have a steel sided garage that the brown paint is fading. I want to paint it the same color as my house. What should I do/use.

They told me to power was it and if the paint was in good shape and just faded (it was), to just spray over it with "this paint". Wish I could remember what it was. I took in a sample of the house siding and they color matched it.

I bought an inexpensive Wagner power painter hand-held sprayer. Power washed the garage one day. Painted it the next. I think I used about 3 gallons of color paint and a quart for trim.

Honestly, it took longer to clean the paint sprayer than it did to spray each side.

It's been about 10 years and still looks great.

So, my recommendation would be to go to a paint store and tell them what you have, and what you want to do.

Thanks! Do you remember what brand paint store?

 

[jyoutz]

Thanks! Do you remember what brand paint store?

I think any quality professional paint store would have a good product for you: Dunn Edwards, Sherwin Williams, to name a few.