About painting a steel sided building

[orezok]

My plan was to paint it like a car. They are metal, the building is metal, why not use automotive paint?

Automotive paint is very expensive vs industrial paint. Up to $250 a gallon for quality paint. Of course, if you want Kubota orange, TSC has that for $40

 

[tpcannon]

Thanks. You definitely have different conditions than I have, but your experience is my worst fear.

 

[Alan W.]

Built my tractor shed with used panels that were white and some places a little rust.
Sprayed it with Rustoleum rusty metal primer followed by New Holland red tractor enamel. Still looks the same. No problems with peeling.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

After thinking about it my guess is a paint contractor would use water base eco-friendly paint. What lasts is oil based.
One way to do it is either paint a scrap panel piece or just one small section, seeing how it looks after a few months before painting the whole thing.

 

[DaBear3428]

I might be painting a metal building some time in the future too. It's that ugly beige color that was so popular 30 years ago. My plan was to paint it like a car. They are metal, the building is metal, why not use automotive paint?

I just need to decide what color to paint it.

cars require wax or the paint will burn in 2 years, building paints do not require wax. auto paint is also very expensive. talk to your local professional paint supplier.

 

[DaBear3428]

Strong panels are coated with the MS Colorfast45 system which is a high quality coating system applied under strict conditions. the chances of getting a field applied paint system to match the fade resistance and durability of that system is pretty much nil, but there are some good coating systems that if used correctly can provide good service but again it will not be as good as the original coating.

 

[jyoutz]

I might be painting a metal building some time in the future too. It's that ugly beige color that was so popular 30 years ago. My plan was to paint it like a car. They are metal, the building is metal, why not use automotive paint?

I just need to decide what color to paint it.

Isn’t automotive paint very expensive?

 

[EddieWalker]

I haven't painted a vehicle in decades, so I don't know what it costs. I was into off roading, so I had Jeeps, a couple Bronco's and a big lifted truck at one time. I was never about a show vehicle, but I did want to make each of them a certain color that looked good from a distance, but I wasn't afraid to go off roading in, or explore a new trail.

In those days, I would use an enamel paint that stuck to anything, and held up good to abuse. It was a cheap paint as far as auto paints go, but it worked perfect for what I wanted.

Yesterday, while I was in Lowes, I decided to buy a gallon of Exterior Valspar Duramax paint to try on my shipping container. I'm about to build a dog kennel next to the container and I decided this would be a good time to cover up the faded red and white paint on it. It's far enough from the house that I'm fine if it doesn't look perfect, I just want it to disappear in the trees a lot better then it does now.

 

[gstrom99]

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?

My 54 x 72 Morton pole barn was put up in the 60's and is white, with faded green trim/accents. The green is faded pretty bad and the prior owner let trees grow up and rub the paint off down to the galvanized layer only in spots (I've sprayed touch-up with flat Rustoleum on those spots) but I'm not touching it further.

I did have the roof painted a few years ago. They used a silver Sherman Williams asphalt type paint, sprayed on. Looks great.

IMHO, If the color is the only issue, I'd live with the beige sides instead of spending a ton of money and having to repaint every few (10 if you're lucky?) years.

 

[KennyG]

Automotive paint is way to expensive for anything but vehicles. A good oil based paint (Rustoleum?) is the only real option but it will require careful cleaning and surface preparation. It's all a matter of time and money, but I fixed my faded, rusted old siding by putting on new steel. I know it's good for the rest of my life.