Give Your Home a Fresh New Look by Painting Vinyl Siding

As the leading roofing installers in Northern Virginia, Style Roofing is always being asked what can be done to give a property DIY makeover. Most home and business owners now opt for vinyl siding, as it is an option that requires the least amount of maintenance over time. Yet, just because vinyl siding requires little effort to keep in working order doesn’t mean that the appearance won’t degrade over time.

One doesn’t have to be a leading roofing contractor to know that mismatched paint on a house is a huge eye sore. Fortunately, paint formulas have improved significantly over the years, allowing home and business owners to paint vinyl siding to match the rest of a house. This can come in handy, especially if the property is an older one with a combination of wood and vinyl siding.

It’s also a good thing that painting vinyl siding isn’t a process that varies a whole lot from any other exterior paint job—the important thing is to properly prepare the surface beforehand and select the proper paint for a specific job. However, painting vinyl siding does come with a few exceptions.

Because it expands and contracts with temperature changes much more than other exterior house materials, vinyl siding is certainly unique. Even if it’s not that warm outside, the sun shining on the siding will make it grow rapidly. For this reason, vinyl siding is always nailed loosely to a property, so that it can undergo temperature changes without buckling.

Keeping this scientific rule in mind, start by washing the surface with soap, water, and a scrub brush. Not only will this help kill mold and mildew, it will ensure your paint canvas is a clean one—no pain will stick (or last, for that matter) on a dirty surface. After thoroughly cleaning the vinyl siding, select a color that isn’t darker than the original shade of the property. As dark colors absorb more of the sun’s heat, the siding will expand even more than it would if painted with a light tone. Not only could a dark color (and the resulting expansion) cause pain to fail prematurely, it could result in buckling and permanent damage to the siding system. There is nothing wrong with changing a property’s color completely, just make sure it’s not a dramatically darker hue.

In our experience, the best type of paint for use on vinyl siding is 100% acrylic latex. In addition to being easy to apply to all types of exterior house materials, this formula is designed to handle the expansion and contraction of vinyl siding. Apply two coats, allowing enough time between the two for drying. And if your schedule allows, try to paint on a cooler, overcast day. Avoiding great amounts of sunlight while applying paint to vinyl siding will help the paint dry slowly and bond properly, ensuring a great looking property for years to come!

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