When the warm weather arrives, this often turns out to be the perfect opportunity to complete renovation work on the exterior of your home. When it comes to painting the siding of your house, there are many different types of siding that can be painted to give your home a makeover.
In this article, Peintres Premium’s Montreal house painters give you some tips on what types of siding can be painted on your house!
Can you paint brick siding?
A widespread belief is that painting brick will cause moisture and mold to accumulate inside. This isn’t entirely false but dates back to a time when exterior brick was painted with oil-based paints. This ended up completely sealing the bricks and preventing them from breathing.
Today, latex and acrylic paints protect against water infiltration, but also have a microporous finish that allows moisture to escape from the brick. For this reason, it’s possible to paint a brick wall without worrying that it’ll deteriorate.
Discover how to paint the brick on the outside of your house below!
How to paint a brick wall
Applying paint to bricks isn’t a hugely complicated process but still requires a certain level of skill and experience to execute the task well. If you’d prefer to leave this task to the professionals, contact us now!
1. Prepare the brick before painting it
Before you can safely and effectively paint brick siding, it is important that you clean off any old or residual paint.
The key to painting brick is that the surface has to be perfectly clean beforehand. If there is any dirt or debris left on the brick wall, it will show up when you pour the new paint over it. This will cause unwanted defects and the job will have to be redone.
2. Clean the brick
To clean the brick and prepare it well for painting, you should use TSP Cleaner. We recommend that you apply this organic degreaser to all the areas that you wish to paint. Cleaning with TSP removes contaminants without leaving behind any grease on the brick. Your wall will be ready to paint after its application.
3. Apply primer if necessary
If your brick siding is fairly old, it might have a significant porosity problem. A brick wall that is too porous can lead to water infiltration and humidity problems.
To avoid this, the exterior painters in charge of your project would apply a primer to the brick beforehand. This product seals the brick’s pores and reduces the risk of water or moisture infiltration.
4. Painting brick siding
Once your brick wall is clean and prepped, it’s time to paint it! The best paint to use for brick siding is a high-quality exterior acrylic paint. Our painters advise you to use either Dulux Diamond or Aura Exterior Paint.
Generally, to maintain brick’s raw appearance, we tend to use a satin finish paint. This type of finish doesn’t reflect much light and is easily cleaned. Alternative finishes could be applied, but it is best to get advice from a professional.
Can you paint wood siding?
The wood on the outside of your house is often subject to different weather conditions (wind, snow, sunlight, etc.). It’s therefore advisable to paint the outdoor wood of your house to keep it looking fresh and modern at all times. Here are the steps to follow.
How to paint wood siding
Painting the wood siding of your house can be a long and tedious job. Whether you are painting a wooden deck, siding or a fence, we recommend hiring professional residential painters for this kind of project.
1. Prepare wood before painting it
Preparing exterior wood before painting it is an essential step if you want to produce a long-lasting, high-quality result. To paint wooden surfaces correctly, they must first be cleaned, sanded and primed.
2. Apply a primer on wood
Once wood is prepped and cleaned, it’s important to wait for it to dry before applying additional products.
We recommend that you use a primer to ensure a high-quality finish, as well as better adherence and uniformity across the surface. A latex acrylic primer is strongly recommended for wood.
We often apply self-sealing paint with an integrated primer, which will penetrate through the wood and protect the surface.
Wherever an oil-based product would have been applied to the wood in the past, it is important to instead apply a hybrid oil-based primer before adding the finishing coats.
3. Painting exterior wood
Depending on the size of the wooden surface, you can either use a brush or a roller. You can then go ahead and paint the wood siding with your favourite type of paint.
Once the whole of the wooden surface has been painted, it is important to apply an additional coat of varnish. This step protects your paintwork and provides your house with the best quality finish.
Can you paint vinyl siding?
Vinyl siding is an attractive material to use for the siding of your house, but you need to know more about this type of material before painting it.
Vinyl is a plastic and it can therefore change shape slightly when subject to high temperatures. If you want to paint your vinyl siding, you should therefore opt for a shade of paint that is either the same or lighter than the vinyl siding of your home. This is because, if you apply a darker product to the vinyl, it will attract and absorb sunlight, which will inevitably deform the plastic.
However, Sherwin-Williams offers some VinylSafe Paint options with a choice of darker paints that are safe to use on vinyl. Nevertheless, in order to avoid the risk of your vinyl changing shape, hire a professional painter specialized in painting this type of material. At Peintres Premium, we have the necessary expertise to take full care of your vinyl siding.
How to paint vinyl siding
As you have read above, applying paint to vinyl siding is a task that requires a certain level of knowledge in the field. The easiest way to get your vinyl siding painted is to hire a professional. If you decide you want to attempt it yourself, here’s the steps to follow.
1. Clean the vinyl
Since you are going to apply paint to the vinyl on the outside of your house, it is important to keep the surface as clean as possible so that the product adheres well to the surface. Before anything else, clean the vinyl to get rid of any dirt and debris.
To do this, we recommend that you use TSP cleaner. Make sure that the surface is dry before applying paint or a primer. You could use a pressure washer to help with this task but avoid directing the water behind the vinyl panels.
2. Prime the vinyl
If you feel like it, you could apply a layer of primer to the vinyl and then let it dry. This will give the vinyl a better finish after painting.
3. Paint the vinyl
Before painting the exterior vinyl siding, if it’s really hot weather, make sure you don’t begin painting it in direct sunlight. Since the siding can deform under extreme heat, it’s important to avoid painting it under high temperatures.
Aside from this, painting vinyl is like painting any other material. Often, you need to apply a second coat of paint to get the best end result.
Can you paint aluminum siding?
Aluminum siding is long-lasting, but there still comes a time when it must be renewed. That’s a mistake that many homeowners make. In any case, it’s less costly to paint your aluminum siding than to replace it.
How to paint aluminum siding
Even if your aluminum siding has certain defects, it is often possible to revive it by adding a lick of paint. You can paint aluminum siding even if it’s faded, discoloured, or has some visible dents.
1. Degrease the aluminum siding
The first step to take if you are looking to paint aluminum is to degrease it. In order to do this effectively, you should use a pressure washer to clean it, and then rinse the surface to get rid of any residue or dirt before adding paint.
2. Sand the aluminum
Once the surface has been degreased, the most time and energy consuming step comes next: sanding. This step gets rid of the aluminum’s top layer, which improves the adhesion of the paint to the surface.
The best way to get a perfect finish is to use an electric sander. If you haven’t got access to this tool, you can use a sanding block and sandpaper. A professional house painter will have all the necessary equipment to effectively sand down your aluminum siding!
Once it’s been sanded, use a pressure washer on the aluminum to remove any remaining dust and debris.
3. Paint the aluminum
After prepping the surface, it’s time to paint the aluminum. There are many types of paint designed for aluminum siding. Acrylic and glycerol paints seem to cling best to this type of material.
4. Apply varnish to the aluminum
Adding aluminum varnish isn’t a compulsory step but it is useful for making the paint last longer. A professional painter would advise you to include this step.
Can you paint CanExel siding?
CanExel siding has been growing in popularity for decades now. This material offers an appearance similar to wood, while being less sensitive to temperature fluctuations. However, CanExel has to be repainted often since the paint that covers it can flake off.
How to paint CanExel
Before being able to paint the CanExel, you need to clean and prepare it just like the other materials above.
1. Clean the CanExel
In order to effectively clean the CanExel, you must again use TSP cleaner. This preparation step eliminates any dust and grease stuck to the surface.
To apply this cleaning product, you can either spray it directly onto the CanExel or use a roller with an extendable handle. After using TSP cleaner, make sure to rinse the surface with clean water and then let it dry before adding paint.
2. Paint the CanExel siding
If you want to paint your CanExel siding, we recommend that you use a durable, high-quality paint, because the surface is very dense.
One coat of paint should be applied to surfaces that are in good condition and only need to be refreshed. For worn surfaces, two coats of paint are necessary, but it is important not to apply too much.
Contact Peintres Premium to paint the siding of your house
As you have seen throughout this article, many materials used for the siding of your house can be painted. Although the materials we have mentioned are the most popular, we are able to paint many other types of surfaces too, such as fibre cement, aggregate, sheet metal, etc.
While all of these jobs can be done by yourself, hiring a professional painter will save you time and money. In addition, hiring a professional helps you avoid accidents if you have to paint at heights.
Contact our team of experts today to carry out your exterior siding painting project. They will be happy to answer all your questions and help paint your home!
