Paint Options – How to Paint Anything!

Karl — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:59:23 +0000

A lick of new paint freshens up anything and the smell alone is guaranteed to imbue a fresh, clean atmosphere into any area of the home but I’m often asked whether materials such as aluminum can be painted. There is much more to your home than simple walls and wooden surfaces which are the traditional subject for an attack by paintbrush – modern homes include plastic, concrete and metal which are not usually known as being “paintable”.

I’m going to outline what you can do to paint a wide variety of materials without making it look like a botched, amateur job.

Plastic

Plastic can be painted but the problem has traditionally been an inability to get the paint to stick to the surface properly. This led to ugly, application issues or peeling once the paint has dried – generally, a very poor looking finish. Now there are paints which are specially formulated for application to plastic surfaces. You are now able to give a new look to tired old garden furniture with a simple coat of paint – if the plastic surface is old, you usually only need to give it a wipe down prior to application, but if you have new plastic this needs to wiped with paint remover which will “rough up” the surface and improve paint adhesion.

Concrete & Masonry

Concrete is found around the home in all sorts of places from the floors and passageways, your basement and outside the home such as the driveway. You have a couple of options with concrete – you can paint it or stain it but, in either case make sure it is clean and dry.

A stain will seep into the concrete much the same way as it does with wood, the stain bonds with the concrete and forms a protective shield which provides a long lasting, decorative look. Staining does not “cover” the concrete, unlike paint, so imperfections will be visible once you have stained it – if you need to perform a “cover up”, you will need to consider painting it. Consider using a stain or paint which contains an anti-mildew ingredient and provides additional waterproofing.

Metal & Aluminum

Metal can be painted too and a simple coat of paint can dramatically improve the appearance simply by getting rid of rust! You’ll need a wire brush to take to the metal surface or railings and once you have performed this chore, you should apply a primer and make sure it contains a rust inhibitor. Use a high gloss paint for the best effect and enjoy!

Aluminum siding is not cheap and because it does get to look tired and unsightly with time, many homeowners consider replacing it with new siding. They are pleasantly surprised when they find out how simple and easy it is to spruce up their existing siding installation with a paint job. The first step is to remove the chalk residue which builds up on aluminum siding, and this must be done thoroughly using a degreaser or even a regular cleaner. Don’t worry – it’s simple and easy to do. If the original coating has completely worn away, you should use a primer but this is frequently not the case unless it is completely down to the metal. Use an acrylic paint with a satin finish for the best results.

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Paint Options – How to Paint Anything!