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Painting vinyl siding

26K views 18 replies 16 participants last post by  Snow Man 
#1 ·
I painting vinyl siding. I'm using Benjamin Moore products, Moorgard, and I have fresh start primers, oil and latex. I know it's clean, I did it by hand with sponges, brushes and rags by hand myself with tsp and properly rinsed. Squeeky clean when wet. The weather has been good, sunny dry here in northeast PA. The paint color is lighter than the original siding colors. The vinyl is a vertical type with a wood grain look and is about 15 years old.

My BM retailer recommended using latex 100% acrilyc primer so I primed and painted a dormer and 10 days later I can fairly easily scrape it off with a fingernail. When I asked about emulsabond they said that the primer is a bonding primer and I should not use a bonding additive. Over the last 10 days I have tried a number of paint primer configurations. including paint without primer, oil primer and using emulsabond with latex primer and using emulsabond with paint and no primer. Although the emulsabond test seem to do better than the others, it really changes the nature of the fingernail scrapings more than solving the bonding issue altogether.

It should be noted that Flood recommends against using Emulsabond for vinyl, and that none of the newer test spots are on more than a 7 days or so.

I have not painted vinyl before so I really do not know what to expect.


Am I expecting too much?

Is it just a matter of cure time?

Is my vinyl different?

Should I use Sherwin Williams Duration?

Thanks, Rob

rmg9@ptd.net
 
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#2 ·
You'll have hell with a latex getting any decent bond on vinyl.......i have used oil based enamel with a flex agent with some luck. You'll have to scuff with scotchbrite and use an abrasive cream prep (3m scuff-it) as well to open up the plastic.
Siding is just like painting plastic, most people won't do it or warrenty it
 
#3 ·
I've painted vinyl a couple of times. I wash down real well and two coats of superpaint satin. I tried to talk the home owner out of it and explained there would be no warranty. However, I painted my garage with vinyl and have had no issues of paint failure. However, the expanding has caused problems. The garage was white. I painted it a dark grey. When the weather changes the siding expands showing white lines at the seams. Last time it expanded I went back with a brush and hit the seams. So far no other issues. That was three years ago.
 
#4 ·
I think your expecting too much. I dont think these paints are supposed to bond well to vinyl they will however form a mold around it. It should hold up to rain, etc but it wont hold up to the fingernail test because its not absorbing into the vinyl. I would use Duration as it can be applied the thickest and will probably be the most flexible as would be needed for the expansion issues with vinyl. Charlie
 
#9 ·
You absolutely can paint vinyl, but you have to use certain colors. It has nothing to do with the paint, it has to do with the colorants. The use of certain colorants will cause the siding to warp. My guess is if you went to a BM store, then you got good advice. If you did this with Home Depot at the helm, then I'd say you have a problem. :)
 
#13 ·
It's been many years ago that I painted vinyl siding. It was a light blue (terribly faded and chalky). Washed the blame thing three times, thinking the chalking would wash off. It didn't! Finally ask my SW rep and he said to wash it well with TSP (brushing/scrubbing only required for the anal retentive type - which I fit into) and use EB with the paint.

Mixed a slightly higher ratio of Emulsion Bond to A100 - and it worked out beautifully.
 
#14 ·
I had not considered EB, that sound like a solid plan to me.

:thumbsup:

A100 is the paint I always use for residential exteriors, or Porter mastic where the budget allows.
I have 3 exteriors going right now and all of them are receiving the A100 treatment.
 
#15 ·
Never did much in the trailer dept. til I moved to central Fl. I can only go back 3 years but I pressure cleaned well, put on a tinted coat of 1-2-3 water based primer from Zinzer, let it sit a day and painted it with exterior latex satin. After 3 years it looks like I did it yesterday...florida weathering is a bear what with the heat, rain and way too much direct sun. pd
 
#16 ·
You DO NOT need any type of primers or bonding agents to paint vinyl siding... You only need to use a quality 100% acrilic paint... ( I recommend BM Moore Guard) As some have said... stay away from the darker colors (no matter what SW says there is no dark color out there that "blocks" the suns heat)... it may hold the color longer to fading but I doubt it prevents warping...

You must allow the paint proper curing time before you do a finger nail test... (10 days is not long enough) 30 or more is long enough... It will bond like it came from factory... Also you should expect expanding lines to show at some point so I would let your customer know to keep an eye on that and to call you when it happens so you can go and touch up those lines... after that you should never have an issue...
 
#17 ·
I agree with JMGP.I always push for moorgaurd.i always wash well (the house);).ive primed and i havent .the results have seemed to be the same.no problems.i did my lawyers crankout vinyl windows last fall,and believe me i was a lil bit nervous.turned out great .just joined this sight tonight and im already luvin it!
 
#18 ·
We've had the best luck using Davis DTM on vinyl siding. A couple hours after it's on it's bonded so tight you can't scrape it off. It's done far better at this than any other paint I've seen. Regular exterior 100% acrylics all seem to be easily scratched off once cured. That's not saying they won't work. The one's I've seen have held up fine, just don't go TRYING to scratch it off.
 
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