About painting a steel sided building

[Budweiser John]

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.

I used shur Kryl from Sherwin Williams on a metal building that was erected in 1972. i first washed the building with a 2,500 PSI hot water pressure washer and double coated with an airless sprayer using a .017 gun tip.
the results were spectacular and now 3 years later the building still looks brand new. I was told by the Sherwin Williams rep, I could expect 20 years of service before re-coatin.
I probably won’t be around in 20 years but expect to paint another building on the farm with in the next two years and I for sure will use the same product.

B. John

 

[tpcannon]

I used shur Kryl from Sherwin Williams on a metal building that was erected in 1972. i first washed the building with a 2,500 PSI hot water pressure washer and double coated with an airless sprayer using a .017 gun tip.
the results were spectacular and now 3 years later the building still looks brand new. I was told by the Sherwin Williams rep, I could expect 20 years of service before re-coatin.
I probably won’t be around in 20 years but expect to paint another building on the farm with in the next two years and I for sure will use the same product.

B. John

Thanks. You’ve given me hope!

 

[Surshot]

They make specific paint for metal building application. They also make a product for old paint, Emulsion Bond, that penetrates the old paint layer to adhear to the original surfave. Painting a matal building requires a good surface prep as has been said previously. You ned to allow drying time after cleaning and the temperature span to apply
Go ask the paint store folks, tell them how you want to apply. A paint that is tough as woodpecker lips, is traffic paint, airless gun only. I painted a building with it, Yellow.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I did not read this whole thread...But I have a metal pole barn also that could use paint. I inquired at my local family owned paint store. There are paints made just for this purpose. No need to guess at this. Brush or spray on. Although they recommended a professional(not home depot) airless paint sprayer to make the job go quicker and easier.

 

[PA hayseed]

There are really only two ways to deal with rust, you either remove it through multiple methods (mechanical/chemical/etc), or you encapsulate it.

All paint oxidizes over time, it is due to the big yellow glob in the sky - photoxidation and photodegradation. It happens with vinyl as well. You can remove oxidation, but it will return over time.

IF you pressure wash your metal building, please for the love of god learn two things: 1)nozzle charts to adjust pressure 2) get back away from it. I can't tell you how many homeowners ruin their garage doors to their homes by pressure washing it with too much pressure. Looks good that year, next year it is rusty and they are calling me. Most professional pressure washers use sodium hypochlorite (aka bleach) to remove algea and mold. The chemical is corrosive, but they actually apply a small amount and then use a lot of water to dilute it and risne the building. Make sure it is rinsed really well. The guy that had a building that was all green, well, his painter didn't lie to him. The picture showed lichen all over the tree next to the garage. Lichen travels. Plus, he didn't have gutters, so he was feeding the growth with all the moisture in the shady side. The northern side of most buildings is where you find the algea.

I do some PW and painting now that I am retired as my side hustle. I mainly like to work with wood, but people like these metal pole buildings now and they need cleaned too.