# Painting vinyl siding on my house question



## TrueColors (Jul 30, 2010)

So, I just bought a house. It has been vinyl sided about 15 years ago and the colour is terrible IMO. The girlfriend and I want to paint it this summer. I have never painted vinyl in my career to date and was wondering if anyone has some tips and such. I know vinyl expands and contracts so if I spray it and the weather cools down will I see unpainted areas where the seams meet due to contraction?

I was planning to use one of Benjamin Moores 74 Vinyl safe colours in Aura exterior. Has anyone had any issues whatsoever with warping or buckling with the vinyl safe colours.?

Our house is a very light dirty pink colour and I wanted to go a little darker earthy green on siding and shutters darker then the body. Not sure what we are doing with the eaves or fascia yet but the white is not my cup-o-tea! I have see a few houses where people flip the soffits and have the unfinished metal downward so you can see it, looks fantastic. So that may be a route we may go... And paint the eaves and facia to the same as the shutters.

Any tips would be cool!











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## PremierPaintingMa (Nov 30, 2014)

Hi TrueColor! Congratulation. 
I would use SW Resilience paint not Duration and make sure you pic vinyl safe color you will have no issues whatsoever with warping or buckling, Power wash, make sure you let it dry for at least a few days, just spray it on don't brush or roll, make sure the temperature is not below 65 to 70.
I did about 6 house and my house five years ago color change from white to sage green and never had a problem, the only small problem is when is cold and the vinyl move you will see the old color in between the over lap where the vinyl go on top of each other, just do a little touch up.


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## Tonyg (Dec 9, 2007)

I would use the Aura over the Duration any day. Painted my siding 10 years ago with Duration (prior to switching to BM) and much prefer the Aura on burnishing color fast properties. Did one house from a white to a brown about the same time and it still looks great.

Definitely a late fall project for my area. Cool temps otherwise you will regret it.


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## PremierPaintingMa (Nov 30, 2014)

Tonyg said:


> I would use the Aura over the Duration any day. Painted my siding 10 years ago with Duration (prior to switching to BM) and much prefer the Aura on burnishing color fast properties. Did one house from a white to a brown about the same time and it still looks great.
> 
> Definitely a late fall project for my area. Cool temps otherwise you will regret it.


Sorry Tonyg, no disrespect, you must be mistaken, are you sure you talking about vinyl siding not wood siding, cause Aura is not vinyl siding safe only regal select exterior REVIVE.
BM is my number one paint at all time that's all i use 95%. 
I don't use SW, the only time i use SW is for vinyl siding Resilience vinyl safe not Duratin.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

I just grabbed this off the BM Aura TDS.

"Recommended for exterior use on wood, fibre cement board, hard board, vinyl and aluminium siding, shakes, unglazed brick, concrete, stucco, cinder block and primed metal"


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## PremierPaintingMa (Nov 30, 2014)

Aura will stick to vinyl, the problem is not vinyl safe, if you use a dark color on a white vinyl siding is going to buckle.


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## Boco (May 18, 2013)

Doesn't Swp Superpaint come with vinyl safe colors? That's what they always recommend to me.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

PremierPaintingMa said:


> Aura will stick to vinyl, the problem is not vinyl safe, if you use a dark color on a white vinyl siding is going to buckle.


Absolutely. I've always thought the old rule was that you can't paint vinyl siding even a smidge darker than what the original colour was for that exact reason. I think we're on the same page.


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

You'll need a vinyl safe product. SW Williams is the only company in Canada that warranties warping on vinyl siding.


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## Gymschu (Mar 11, 2011)

I've done quite a few vinyl houses as they tend to fade quickly, even a few years after installation. I use SuperPaint Satin most of the time in the vinyl safe colors. If you are worried about seams when they expand just jam your brush into the seamed area or move the panel to reveal the overlap and paint it. Honestly, I recall very few callbacks about seams that moved so much that the old color was showing.

Good advice about letting the house dry for a few days after power washing. Nothing more frustrating than painting a section as water pours out from the weeping holes or a seam and runs into your fresh paint.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

Be careful when you're pressure washing as well, especially with vinyl. Never aim your gun at an upward angle or waters gonna get pushed behind the vinyl. I was painting an apartment building once and the owner of the building decided over the weekend he was going to pressure wash the exterior. When I showed back up on Monday, the ceilings in several of the units were sagging with water dripping all over the place.

Ended up having to do some pretty significant drywall repairs.


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## PremierPaintingMa (Nov 30, 2014)

Wildbill7145 said:


> Be careful when you're pressure washing as well, especially with vinyl. Never aim your gun at an upward angle or waters gonna get pushed behind the vinyl. I was painting an apartment building once and the owner of the building decided over the weekend he was going to pressure wash the exterior. When I showed back up on Monday, the ceilings in several of the units were sagging with water dripping all over the place.
> 
> Ended up having to do some pretty significant drywall repairs.


That is funny , I love it when the owners tell us that's easy i can do that later on they will be paying twice as much.


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

I'd be hesitant to use a thick product like aura on it, but I don't have a lot of experience with aura either...it seems to ge about the same consistency as duration though and i wouldnt use that product on this project either...if I were to choose a sw product though it would be superpaint for the elasticity of the product. I've painted several vinyl sided homes with it with absolutely no problems. Easy to apply, no adhesion issues, great hold up and color retention. If I were in your shoes, I'd look at a Bm crossover product with those attributes as you're going for a color change, not necessarily protective measures (it's vinyl, you're already protected...go too thick and it'll peel off in sheets down the road at some point...I dunno, that'd be my fear with a thick product though). You should be fine with light to medium/neutral colors and yes, expect expansion/contraction and plan your project accordingly aa the surface gets hot fast....

In regards to color selection, I love the green idea. One question though is what color are your window frames? In one of the photos it looks like the upper window frame may be a tan color? Is that correct and if so, are all of them the same color? That may be a color to incorporate into your plans if it is... good luck! And congratulations on your new home! Looks charming and I'd love to see what character it has on the inside


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## SemiproJohn (Jul 29, 2013)

After pressure washing and allowing the siding to fully dry, I always apply a sealer such as SealKrete. It binds any residual chalk and ensures maximum and uniform adhesion of paint. I also use either Superpaint or Duration in a vinyl safe color.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

journeymanPainter said:


> You'll need a vinyl safe product. SW Williams is the only company in Canada that warranties warping on vinyl siding.


No they do not! They give no warranty for the substrate. If the siding warps, the only thing they are responsible for is replacing the paint. See if they will give you a warranty against warping in written form saying they will replace the siding if it warps. They won't do it.


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## Tonyg (Dec 9, 2007)

PremierPaintingMa said:


> Sorry Tonyg, no disrespect, you must be mistaken, are you sure you talking about vinyl siding not wood siding, cause Aura is not vinyl siding safe only regal select exterior REVIVE.
> BM is my number one paint at all time that's all i use 95%.
> I don't use SW, the only time i use SW is for vinyl siding Resilience vinyl safe not Duratin.


I stand corrected. Did a few projects back then when I was still using the Duration. I would definitely use the BM product over the SW (I used the Duration on my own home) I know I had seen the vinyl safe color palette on their website but haven't had to bid a vinyl repaint in years so I didn't pay attention to the REVIVE requirement 

From the Aura TDS
"Do not paint vinyl siding or trim darker than the original color. See the Benjamin Moore® Vinyl Select palette for exceptions to that rule."


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## TrueColors (Jul 30, 2010)

lilpaintchic said:


> I'd be hesitant to use a thick product like aura on it, but I don't have a lot of experience with aura either...it seems to ge about the same consistency as duration though and i wouldnt use that product on this project either...if I were to choose a sw product though it would be superpaint for the elasticity of the product. I've painted several vinyl sided homes with it with absolutely no problems. Easy to apply, no adhesion issues, great hold up and color retention. If I were in your shoes, I'd look at a Bm crossover product with those attributes as you're going for a color change, not necessarily protective measures (it's vinyl, you're already protected...go too thick and it'll peel off in sheets down the road at some point...I dunno, that'd be my fear with a thick product though). You should be fine with light to medium/neutral colors and yes, expect expansion/contraction and plan your project accordingly aa the surface gets hot fast....
> 
> In regards to color selection, I love the green idea. One question though is what color are your window frames? In one of the photos it looks like the upper window frame may be a tan color? Is that correct and if so, are all of them the same color? That may be a color to incorporate into your plans if it is... good luck! And congratulations on your new home! Looks charming and I'd love to see what character it has on the inside




Thanks for the input. To answer your questions, yes the upper windows are aluminum sliders (Brown) and the main floors are doubled pained/some vinyl inserts (white), little bit of mismatch.

I think I'm leaning towards Aura as I've used it since day one. I'm really familiar with its quirks and performance. But yes I think we might go a earthy green for the siding and a darker tone for the shutters. Still up in the air for colour combos... I have seen some pretty fresh lighter toned homes. Hmmm


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## PremierPaintingMa (Nov 30, 2014)

TrueColors said:


> Thanks for the input. To answer your questions, yes the upper windows are aluminum sliders (Brown) and the main floors are doubled pained/some vinyl inserts (white), little bit of mismatch.
> 
> I think I'm leaning towards Aura as I've used it since day one. I'm really familiar with its quirks and performance. But yes I think we might go a earthy green for the siding and a darker tone for the shutters. Still up in the air for colour combos... I have seen some pretty fresh lighter toned homes. Hmmm


TrueColors, trust me don't use Aura on vinyl siding you will regret it, it will cost you big time at the end, you need to use vinyl safe, I recommend that you ask your sales rep about it before doing a huge mistake.
I do love Aura and all benmoore product, as I stated before I don't like SW but for vinyl it always work.
I hope PACman can jump on this.


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## Gymschu (Mar 11, 2011)

Here's the vinyl safe palette from SW:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/hom...collection/vinylsafe-colors-for-vinyl-siding/


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## Boco (May 18, 2013)

Super paint is the way to go. The most expensive doesn't always mean best product for the job. Aura is a great product just not for vinyl that should be sprayed.


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## TrueColors (Jul 30, 2010)

Awesome! I'll check out the SW vinyl safe


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