I have a large pole building with metal siding and the wife thinks we need to paint it to match the house. The siding is in good shape but will definitely need to ne pressure washed first as it is oxydised pretty bad. Has anyone had or done this? What do I need to be aware of? A friend sprayed his with ordinary water base paint and it looks bad to me. Maybe they didn't know what they were doing? I'm 76 years old and think I could still do it but the wife thinks I'll break a hip and then they'll have to shoot me! Help!
- Thread starter egbinor
- Start date
Gary from Muleshoe
Well-known Member
My suggestion would be to go to your Nearest Sherwin Williams store and ask the advice of their long time employees, the young ones will sell you anything. Ordinary water base paint is just a temp fix, it does not bond well with metal. There are water base paints that will but it is specially blended for metal. Ask the pros if you want a good job.
I helped a friend do this one time. He bought a water base paint made for just this purpose and we sprayed it with my airless sprayer. Made a mistake the first day and sprayed it in the late afternoon. That night had a heavy dew and the paint soaked up moisture and slid down the wall. He washed it off in the AM and later repainted it. Still looks good.
Lakeguy
Lakeguy
showcrop
Well-known Member
It's all about the bonding. I have been touching up and repainting the old clapboard siding on my house. At the Sherwin Williams store, he told me that I was correct, that even though most paint is water based these days, you still need an oil based primer. I have also peen repainting my 40x50 shop building that had gone 25 years. It is t-111, so I pressure washed it aggressively first, so that I had a high amount of fresh wood to grip the solid color stain. I used a large commercial sprayer that made a huge difference in how fast it went. it pumps the paint from the five gal. Bucket. The main point is that it has to be properly prepped for the paint to stick long term.I would go to a specialty paint store and talk to an experienced pro.
If you choose to try to paint it, just make sure you know exactly what you are painting over. I have seen people who thought they knew what they were doing paint over Butler Manufacturing Buildings in the past, the paint literally bubbled and fell off. Their paint is a special Epoxy base paint, not everything will adhere to it without proper preparation.
As others have said, applying some paint won't be a problem, it's getting the paint to stay on that is the tough part. If you don't get it right the first time it could cost three times as much to strip it and repaint it.
Before you start, get some quotes from professionals. They will steer you on what paint to use and how to prepare the metal for painting. You might be surprised how reasonable the quotes are, they have the equipment to get it done fast.
Before you start, get some quotes from professionals. They will steer you on what paint to use and how to prepare the metal for painting. You might be surprised how reasonable the quotes are, they have the equipment to get it done fast.
Ellis Kinney
Well-known Member
My barn is 36 X 48 and 12 tall. My son and I painted it dark brown (original color) in two days. We rolled, and brush painted the hard to reach spots. We worked off ladders. Rust-oleum oil based paint. It covered well and has lasted. Ellis
Liquid_wrench
Member
- Location
- Ohio
Pressure wash the building with at least a 2500 psi unit...check to make sure all the chalk is off (wipe your hand over it and if you don't see chalk on your hand,thats good. Then,get some oil base primer (fast or slow dry will work fine) and prime all rusty spots,like the screw heads...you can use a spray can primer if only the screw heads need it...stay back about 6 inches,or it will run. No need to prime the whole building...just the rust...let primer dry..Then go to Sherwin Williams and buy DTM (Direct to metal) waterbase acrylic paint...I use semi gloss or satin it covers better than high gloss and looks better Imho. Use an airless paint sprayer with about 1700-2000 psi and 6-15 or 6-13 spray tip and keep gun about 8 to 10 inches back when spraying and keep moving...or it will run..up and down steady motion...start at the top(don't get overspray on the roof,it looks bad,lol) and paint about 15 feet..then do the bottom 15 foot and so on...that way you wont see overlap from drying...and don't paint in the sun...you will see overlap marks. A 40x40 building should take about 10-12 gallons..if you overlap your spray pattern by 4-6 inches..one coat will do...maybe have a paint party with your friends....lol,hope this helps. I have been using graco airless sprayers for 33 years now.
Keith
Keith
Liquid_wrench
Member
- Location
- Ohio
Yes..the spray hoses come in 25 or 50 foot length and can be added together with a 1/4" nipple...on my sprayers, I can run up to 300 foot of hose...makes it nice when I paint my 100x40 barn roof...I use a 15 gallon tub to put the pickup tube into so I don't have to fill too often...but it sure gets hot in the summer when painting roofs with aluminum paint and the sun shining down....got to keep a rag with me so the sweat don't drip on the roof...lol. I also use a 16" wand extention on the spray gun..so I don't have to bend when spraying.
Keith
Keith
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
Your biggest problem painting the building is the metal is likely painted with a baked on enamel which is difficult to bond to. If it were me I would use a bonding primer such as PrimeRX from Sherwin Williams or Bondz from Zinsser. Of course a good cleaning is the first step.
Liquid_wrench
Member
- Location
- Ohio
Been painting metal buildings for many years...I learned the hard way that oil base for the topcoat is a no no...it will not bond or flex (way too brittle)with the weather. Acrylic waterbase will bond tight to baked on enamel...if it is clean...you can prime it with WB bonding primer...but I have only primed one building completely 10 years ago and still looks good (no peeling) but the others I have only primed the rusty spots..still look good also after 15-18 years..when we started using acrylic waterbase. Its your building do as you please...but I see no need to prime the whole building if it is clean when you paint it and a quality acrylic exterior paint is applied.
Keith
Keith
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
I agree with not using oil based paint however I wouldn't warranty a paint job unless there was a bonding primer used. The baked on enamel on metal siding certainly qualifies as a hard to paint surface. There is nothing worse than paint pealing off metal. It's not like wood where you can scrape what is loose and paint over it. All of the bad paint has to come off.
Prawn Farmer
Member
The barns we built used Granite City Strong Panel. Had a large batch of white painted metal that turned gray over time due to some oil residue, but Granite City Steel warranted it all and had a company repaint it. They power washed/etched it and used an electro-charge sprayer with some siliconized polyester paint. Building they did for me (50 x 144 x 12) has been over 15 years ago and still looks great.
Blackhole49
Well-known Member
- Location
- White Lake MI
My neighbor did this 3.5 years ago with a 30 year old pole barn to match his new barn. His painters recommended the best quality Sherwin Willams paint and it looks great. I used a Behr paint when I did mine in 2002. It was an exact match when new, but faded badly after 4 years. Their guarantee was for the paint staying on the building, not for holding the color.
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