# Help with painting exterior aluminum



## sup god (Jun 7, 2019)

hello all,

I have a raw aluminum, 45'x12' slide gate that i need to paint to match a bronze powder coat. The paint store came up with..

a. primer coat - sherman williams indust. wash primer P60G2/R7K44 or equal

B. Intermediate coat - SW duraplate 235 multipurpose epoxy or equal

c. topcoat - SW Acrolon 218TS or equal 

Top coat is epoxy and is to shinny is there a top coat i can replace with, that has more of a matte finish?

What about a completly diffrent process that would match the performance of epoxy? please help!


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## Delta Painting (Apr 27, 2010)

Any 100% acrylic latex will stick just fine to a clean aluminum surface..


BTW, That SW concoction is to empty your wallet..


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

What about BM Super Spec DTM? I'm experimenting on some metal samples right now myself. Not sure if it comes in a Matte though.. Aluminum is tricky. It should be scratched up and probably primed with an etching primer first..

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk


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## CK_68847 (Apr 17, 2010)

Delta Painting said:


> Any 100% acrylic latex will stick just fine to a clean aluminum surface..
> 
> 
> BTW, That SW concoction is to empty your wallet..


I’ve had latex paint not stick to aluminum frames. I always test.


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## CK_68847 (Apr 17, 2010)

sup god said:


> hello all,
> 
> I have a raw aluminum, 45'x12' slide gate that i need to paint to match a bronze powder coat. The paint store came up with..
> 
> ...


I just used acrolon on a Walmart. You’re right. It’s very shiny but it’s color retention is suppose be great. I assume that’s why they wanted it. Personally I would use the specified primer and dtm acrylic if you’re looking for something that is forgiving. I’m guessing the customer wants top of the line though. Tnemic also makes paints that would meet that type of spec.


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## Delta Painting (Apr 27, 2010)

CK_68847 said:


> I’ve had latex paint not stick to aluminum frames. I always test.


:surprise:
It was not properly prepped then. I have never had a issue with a quality acrylic latex sticking to aluminum...


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## Holland (Feb 18, 2011)

You need to be careful with Raw Aluminum.

*It has been a while since I researched this. I think there is a chemical reaction between Latex and Raw Aluminum (not factory painted) that causes air bubbles to form underneath the paint film, and can eventually lead to a catastrophic failure. Something to do with Waterbased having Ammonia which can react with Aluminum... (?) 

Correct me if I'm wrong - I think it is safer to use oil primer (like Coverstain) before painting.


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## cardgunner (Feb 29, 2016)

Looking into helping my village with our lamp posts that are made of Aluminum, or Pot Metal if there is a difference between the 2. They need to be repainted. I'll have a picture of some Monday. There has got to be 50 of them and only the bottom portion need to be repainted. The road salt and etc really does a number on these things. How would you prep this? I'm thinking sand blasting. Then a oil primer. Then tough as nails paint, lol. I told them I'm no expert on this but I I've got a group of experts that could offer up something. I'll have pictures after the weekend but I'm impatient. 

This is somewhat what the lamp posts look like, except the paint is falling off the bottom. 
http://www.tuscumbiaironworks.com/images/street_lamps_102008/st_charles_3_arm_street_lamp.jpg


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## Holland (Feb 18, 2011)

Just realizing I was replying to the wrong part of this post... I will leave this blank, as I am not sure best approach to lampposts.


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