When painting the vinyl siding on a property, it is easy to get confused by the process. Vinyl siding takes no shortage of effort if you want to try and get things put together. However, if you find it hard to get a finish that you are happy with then you are not alone. In a bid to make your job a little bit easier, here are some effective tips and tricks which can produce better quality vinyl siding finishes, avoiding those visible streak marks and mistakes.
Are you impacting warranty?
Before doing anything else, make sure that the vinyl siding you intend to paint is allowed to be painted. Some siding comes with a warranty-voiding if you go ahead and paint it. Even if the warranty that you have allows for you to paint, make sure that you are using the kind of paint they allow. These rules can be a bit annoying, but you do need to stick to them to avoid voiding warranty.
Always start with a primer
First off, make sure that you go about using a primer if you are permitted to start painting. Primer is the professional choice as it tends to leave a nicer finish and a more robust, overall impressive look to the paint. However, you will want to try and get a primer that sticks to the paint as otherwise, it will simply come off during periods of intensive weather. Be thorough and specific with your primer painting.
Vinyl expands, so take this into account
Remember that when you are painting vinyl siding that it will expand and contract as the weather changes. This means that when it contracts during the colder months you might be left with some visible gaps in the colour. You can try and avoid this by painting over them during the colder months, but this requires doing so on a day where you know the weather isn’t going to become a problem.
Stick to a lighter colour
Whatever colour your siding was to begin with, go with the same lightness or lighter again. Darker colours absorb heat and so it is more likely to bring in the heat into your house; good in the winter, not so great in the summer. You should look to try and find a paint that looks to avoid excessive absorption, but we typically recommend you stay within the same shade, or lighter, than what was previously used.
You should stick to a lighter colour, too, because darker colours can lead to an absorption rate that the siding was never designed to handle. This could lead to physical damage, warping, and other such headaches that might get in the way of your siding staying in good condition.
So, take a look and see if you can find a colour that is the right tone without causing any headaches with regards to the absorption and thus the risk of the wood being damaged and/or warped in any capacity.