Getting a couple of estimates from professional painters is the best motivation for learning how to paint aluminum siding. If your aluminum siding has seen better days, read on to find out how to do this project yourself, make your house exterior beautiful again, and save yourself a pile of money in the process.

After a certain number of years, even the best quality of aluminum siding begins to lose its painted surface due to factors such as sun, rain, wind, hail, and pollution. And although aluminum is impervious to water, air causes oxidation, otherwise known as rust. And rust can ruin aluminum siding in less time than you think by causing holes and other damage. So to avoid replacing your siding, paint it and keep the money you would have spent for new aluminum siding for some other proverbial rainy day.

Before applying the metal primer, you first need to thoroughly clean the surface of the siding. Do not use a power washer, otherwise you may end up with water going behind the siding and into your house.

After allowing the siding to dry for several days, it is now time to apply the primer. Its best to use a good, high-quality, oil-based metal priming paint that has been thinned at a ratio of one quart thinner to one gallon of primer. Drying times for primer should be no longer than two days before you begin painting.

Avoid windy days or days with harsh sunlit conditions to do any painting. The best times for painting are days that are overcast and cool in order to give the optimal conditions for drying slowly. This curing can mean the difference between a good and poor bond between the paint and the aluminum siding surface.

One last and very important thing to remember when painting aluminum siding: Always purchase the best, highest-quality 100% latex exterior paint that you can possibly afford. To avoid the need to paint again sooner than you would want, this guarantees not only good coverage for your efforts, but also a much longer lasting paint job.

So in a nutshell:

• Clean thoroughly
• use a good metal primer
• always, always, always paint with the best latex exterior paint possible