How To Prepare Siding For Exterior Painting On Hardiplank Siding

Put on a mask and hold the spray gun about 1 foot from the siding.

How to prepare siding for exterior painting on hardiplank siding.

Fill a paint sprayer with exterior acrylic paint. Stir the paint with a paint stick to blend the color pigments. As an experiment rub a clean white cloth across the unwashed siding. A professional exterior painting expert will use a spray application for a smooth factory like finish.

The cloth will likely come up dark gray with a layer of fine soot. This step is a very important one. But over the years your house will experience paint failure faster than if it were applied to clean siding. Once all caulk is dry and your siding is clean you ll paint hardie plank with a high quality exterior grade acrylic latex.

Acrylic paint is best suited for fiber cement stone and stucco exteriors. All you should have to do is rinse your siding use a garden hose no pressure washers here to clean off any dust or dirt. Don t paint in direct sun and add a paint additive like paint extender which will slow down the drying time and give the paint time to level out. Wash down the exterior surfaces every 6 to 12 months with a garden hose to remove dirt and debris gently clean your siding with a soft brush or wet soft cloth in a side to side motion in the direction of the plank siding.

Later in the day the surface of the siding can get up to 150 degrees in direct sun light so paint the shady side first thing in the morning. Paint applied to dirty siding will adhere in the short term. Pressure wash entire exterior. Then make sure the coating is completely dry before applying the 2 nd coat.

Here are the steps to prepare and paint your james hardie siding. Prepare to paint whether you ve got a colorplus finish or custom paint on your existing hardie siding you don t have to use primer when re painting hardie. The siding must then be allowed to dry thoroughly before any caulking is begun. Using the proper materials and paint for fiber cement or hardiplank siding a very good latex primer should be used to prepare the surface for paint.