Siding Painting

Painting siding of every type

Wood, fiber cement, aluminum and vinyl siding can all be painted. What changes from one to the next is the prep, the primer and, on vinyl, the colors you can choose. Safe Choice Painting paints siding on homes across North Texas and southern Oklahoma as part of our exterior painting work.

The walkthrough starts by identifying what is on your walls.

Which siding types can be painted?

• Wood (lap, clapboard, shiplap, board and batten): paints well once loose paint is off and bare wood is primed.
• Fiber cement, including James Hardie: takes a 100 percent acrylic finish. Our Hardie board painting page covers it in detail.
• Aluminum: paints well after the chalk is washed off, with primer only on bare metal.
• Vinyl: can be painted in a limited color range, explained below.
• Metal siding on manufactured homes and outbuildings: washed, rust spots cleaned and primed, then finished in acrylic.

Can you paint vinyl siding?

Yes, in the original shade or lighter, or in a darker color from a paint line made for vinyl, because darker paint can absorb enough heat to warp the panels. Our vinyl siding painting page covers the color rules and prep.

How is wood siding prepped?

Wood siding carries the most history. In Ardmore, about 63 percent of housing was built before 1980, and in Lone Grove about 40 percent, by Census year-built estimates, and state surveys of Ardmore's Highland Park and McLish areas note that about half the homes keep their original clapboard or brick. On siding like that, prep is most of the job:

1. Pressure wash or hand wash, depending on how sound the paint is, and let the wood dry.
2. Scrape and sand loose and peeling paint back to a firm edge.
3. Repair or replace soft and rotted boards, and list each one in the estimate.
4. Prime bare wood and recaulk open joints at corners, windows and trim.
5. Apply two finish coats of exterior acrylic.

Ardmore's January low averages 31.5 degrees in NOAA's normals, so wood siding sees freezes every winter. Water that gets into bare wood or open joints expands when it freezes, which is why sealing those spots matters more than adding coats.

Can aluminum siding be painted?

Yes. Diamond Vogel's guidance is to remove all chalk, prime any bare metal with a direct-to-metal acrylic primer and finish with two coats of acrylic. A flat finish hides dents better than a glossy one, which helps on older aluminum that has taken hail.

What about fiber cement?

Fiber cement is common on newer homes. Primed boards need a topcoat within Hardie's 180-day window, and repaints use 100 percent acrylic. The Hardie board page has the details, and brick homes with siding only on gables are covered on our brick house painting page.

Barns, sheds and shops

Outbuildings get the same care as the house. Wood barns and sheds are washed, scraped and primed like wood siding. Metal barns, including metal barn roofs and siding, are washed to remove chalk and dirt, rust is cleaned back to sound metal and primed with a direct-to-metal primer, and the finish is an exterior acrylic. Doing the outbuildings in the same visit keeps the colors matched.

Changing the color of your siding

A big color change, light to dark or dark to light, usually needs a tinted primer or an extra finish coat for even coverage. Sample the color on two walls, one sunny and one shaded, before committing, since the same paint can look different on each.

How long does paint last on siding?

Angi puts typical exterior paint life at 5 to 10 years, with wood at about 3 to 7 years and aluminum at about 5. South and west walls wear first. Our guide to how long exterior paint lasts explains what shortens it, and our answer on why exterior paint peels covers the most common failure.

Siding repairs before paint

Loose boards are refastened, gaps are caulked and nail heads are set and spot primed. Soft or rotted boards are pointed out first; our wood rot repair page covers that work.

Nearby

• Siding painting in Denton, TX
• Exterior painting
• Trim, fascia and soffit painting
• Exterior painting in Ardmore, OK
• Exterior painting in Lone Grove, OK
• Pressure washing
• Wood siding painting
• Siding painting in Ardmore, OK