Can You Paint Vinyl Siding

One question that many homeowners end up having to consider at some point during the ownership of their home is the question of augmenting their house's appearance with fresh coats of paint and new colors. When this question arises, one of the first follow-up questions for each and every homeowner is, what material is my home's siding made from? Answering this secondary question is the key to what we will be discussing in this article; whether or not it is safe and okay to paint one's vinyl siding, or if this is perhaps an ill-advised proposition.

As it turns out it is completely safe to paint vinyl siding, but as is the case with many things, the details are very important. What this implies is that there is a certain specific procedure which is necessary to follow closely if a homeowner wants to paint their vinyl siding correctly and in such a manner so that it lasts a long time and stays as durable as possible against the elements. As long as people follow the requisite steps for painting their vinyl siding, there should not be any complications.

With this being said, if the proper protocols are not observed on such a home painting job then the painting process can end up not setting correctly and it will not adhere to the siding effectively over time. In order to benefit homeowners all over Minnesota, some of the critical steps for painting vinyl home siding correctly will now be discussed and detailed briefly.

Washing the Vinyl Siding Panels

One of perhaps the most often overlooked procedural steps for painting vinyl home siding is in the act of washing the vinyl to prepare it to accept coats of paint. This is a critical step in the process, mainly because it is not going to be ideal or optimal to be painting over debris, dirt, mold, or any other material which can often be found adhering to vinyl home siding. Homeowners who fail to wash their vinyl siding prior to applying paint almost always regret it, and the source of this all too common regret is the fact that many of them end up having to perform the entire painting job all over again to fix the blemishes caused by painting over dirt and fine debris. Having to re-do the job of painting vinyl home siding is a fate that no homeowner wants to have to deal with, since that represents wasted time and money. Avoid this pitfall by thoroughly washing vinyl panels before painting them, and even using a pressure washer may be necessary in some cases in order to completely remove all unwanted materials.

Using the Right Kinds of Paint for Vinyl Siding

After washing and priming the vinyl siding to be painted, the next item on the check list is making sure that the right kind of paint has been purchased. The type of paint necessary for painting vinyl home siding is latex paint, and there is actually a primary reason for this being the case. The main reason is that latex paint has the ability to easily flex and expand along with the movement of the vinyl siding, and will not flake off or become damaged when this kind of movement occurs. Using the wrong kind of paint on vinyl siding should certainly be avoided, since anything other than latex paint is not going to end up working well on vinyl siding.

Painting With the Right Colors for Vinyl Siding

When using latex paints to re-paint vinyl siding, one of the most important things to consider is the color of the paint being used. It is critical that homeowners choose a lighter color for their house since a lighter color is going to reflect more sunlight away, and therefore more heat as well. What some people do not yet know is that if a homeowner makes the mistake of painting their vinyl siding with a dark color latex paint, what can happen is that the dark hue will end up absorbing so much sunlight and heat that the panels will expand much more than they are supposed to resulting in damages. If this happens, the damage sustained from too much heat being absorbed into the dark colored vinyl panels will be caused by over-expansion followed by abrupt buckling. This type of damage can easily be avoided by simply choosing any light colored latex paint on a home's vinyl siding panels.