Hi,
My house has these circular columns on the front porch. They are made of plastic. The white paint that is on them is flaking off and pealing.
I want to use as the top coat Benjamin Moore Alkyd Exterior house paint to match existing colors.
What is the correct primer paint to use?
Many thanks, Mike.
Mike, it is a good rule of thumb to use the primer that they want you to use, the recomendation is on the can of paint. The companies for the majority of the time formulate the primer and top coat paint to work together,. I don't know if this holds true for Benny Moore, I'm a fan of Pratt and Lambert myself. make sure to use an oil/alkyd base primer.
Clark
Clark... wrote:
Strike my last post Mike !!!!! I just re-read it and noticed the Plastic word.............'doh! You first need to find out what kind of paint is currently on those columns... then decide whether or not to strip it etc, Oil over the plastic would be a bad choice!!!!! read this, and there are some links too. Clark...
Avoid Problems Painting Aluminum and Vinyl Siding Author: Robert Clarke Anyone with older aluminum siding is well aware of the paint chalking problem. Just rub your hand along the old siding and the chalky old paint will be all over your palm. Trying to get paint to stick to this could be a real problem. This is due to oxidation of the paint. Siding manufacturers originally referred to this problem as a "benefit". They called it, "self cleaning", as the paint literally washed off the house. Older vinyl siding is also a problem. UV light fades vinyl siding over time and the siding becomes very unsightly. Many unfortunate homeowners and contractors have experienced the dismay, when they repainted their homes, only to find the new paint peeling off a few months later. Both problems with older aluminum and vinyl siding can be overcome with proper cleaning, surface preparation and re-painting. Cleaning You will need to rent a powerful pressure washer with at least3000 psi. You will want a pressure washer powerful enough toremove most of the old chalky paint off the aluminum siding or,to remove any dirt buildup on the old vinyl siding. Start at the top course of siding and work your way down. You will need to keep the pressure wand fairly close to the siding surface to effectively remove the old paint. In some areas, you may find that the paint comes off to the bare metal. Be careful near windows, corners, soffits and doorways. The water under pressure, can be forced behind these areas causing damage. You can add TSP or other cleaning solutions to the reservoir for mildew, algae or other grime built up. If you do use a cleaning solution, be sure to completely rinse it off with your pressure washer. You should allow your home to dry for several days in dry, sunny weather before proceeding to the painting process. If you are repainting vinyl siding or vinyl coated aluminum siding, you may need a surface de-glosser. This is a solvent type product used to remove any shine on the surface and to helpyour first coat to adhere better. You will have no trouble finding a good de-glosser at your local paint supply store.
Application I like a commercial type airless sprayer. It will draw the paint directly out of your 5 gallon paint pails, through the hose and into your spray gun. These are available to rent at many tool rental locations and even some paint supply stores that supply contractors. If your paint is real high quality latex, it will be thicker than regular latex paint and will require a more powerful airless sprayer. Priming This step is equally as critical as the step above. Actually, the cleaning and surface preparation phases will make or break the results of your project. I like a latex paint additive called emulsa-bond for the first coat. Emulsa-bond is a bonding agent you will add to the first coat of paint or primer, to help it to bond to the old siding. I buy the best grade exterior latex paint, rather than oil or other solvent based paint. Latex paint seems to keep up with the expansion and contraction of the siding very well. The high quality latex paint I buy needs no primer. I add the bonding agent directly into the first color coat. Check with your paint supplier whether or not to use a primer. The rule of thumb is, when in doubt, use a primer. If you use a primer, add the bonding agent into it before applying. There are also bonding agents available for oil or other solvent based paints. One type is called penetrol. These are usually available at a painting contractor supply store. Many contractors will spot prime areas, especially where bare metal is exposed. I don't like spot priming because it can lead to an uneven looking top coat. When I put a primer coat on, I prime the entire home. This gives a uniform surface finish later on. Finish Coat Your top coat will be color only. You should check with your paint manufacturer to see if you need one or two top coats after the base coat. Like I mentioned above, buy the highest quality exterior paint. In Conclusion Proper cleaning and surface preparation are the two main ingredients to a successful painting job. A bonding agent in the first coat is also very critical to avoid paint peeling offlater on. Using these techniques, I've re-painted homes that have lasted far longer than the original factory applied finish.
About the author: Robert Clarke has operated home improvement companies over the last 30 years. He is the owner of Contractors USA,Inc, a nationwide contractor referral service at
I would call a few paint stores Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams and a few companies that make columns, Plastics are different Sherwin Wiliams has a topcoat that bonds to most anything, you will need to remove the old paint to do it right.
Use a Benjamin Moore Primer. As all good paint jobs, proper preparation is required. I used BM primer and BM paint over 12 years ago on my plastic exterior trim and it still looks good. I added mildewcide to both primer and paint, because that's a very common problem in my climate.
For the selected paint, BM will have a suggested primer. Whether that is suggested for the application is a different question.
Where you need to start is w/ the composition of the column and the manufacturer's recommendation for finish/painting.
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Correct procedure in this situation is to scrape off all loose material. Sand out as needed to smooth surface a bit. Prime with an exterior rated acrylic primer like BM Fresh Start. Top coat with Moorglo.
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