How to Paint Steel Siding

One of the most inexpensive ways to improve the appearance of your home is to paint the exterior. Houses have siding of all different materials. The most common siding materials are wood, vinyl and steel. Just like wood and vinyl siding, steel can be painted to suit your color needs. Painting steel siding is a job that can be hired out or simply done yourself. If painted yourself, you can save a lot of money in labor costs. Here are the steps you should take to paint steel siding.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pressure washer
• Trisodium phosphate (TSP)
• Paint rollers
• Rolling pans
• Ladder
• Rust converter

1. Wash the steel siding with trisodium phosphate (TSP) in a pressure washer. This removes all the grime and dirt that accumulates on the outside of a house. Neglecting this step could lead to a significant amount of peeling paint down the road.

2. Inspect every face, crack and crevice of the siding for rust. This is the one drawback to having steel siding: rust. If you do find rust, liberally spray a coat of rust converter over the area. It will transform the rust into a different, black substance.

3. Dump some latex bonding primer into your rolling pan and coat your roller. You need a thin layer of primer on the steel siding before you apply the actual paint.

4. Wait for the primer to dry, and then use a high-quality, acrylic latex paint in your desired color to coat another roller. Climb up a ladder and begin at the top of the siding, then roll the paint on horizontally. Work your way down the siding until you get to the bottom. Move your ladder and complete the paint process again.

5. Apply a second coat of paint. This time, the coat doesn't need to be quite as thick. Pay special attention to areas where the primer color still shows through. Depending on the color, you can typically get by just doing a touch-up second coat. This means you give a second coat only to the areas that visually need one.

Tips & Warnings

• Check the weather to make sure it will cooperate for the few days you will be painting. It could take you several days if you are doing it by yourself, so allow yourself some wiggle room before it rains.
• Do not wash or prime half-heartedly. Painting steel siding is a project you don't want to do very often. If you don't do it right the first time, you will find your siding in desperate need of a new paint job 5 years down the line.