Painting outdoor meter box

[Cranky]

Hi

This is probably a stupid question, but what's the best paint to use for painting the outdoor wall-mounted meter cupboard? I was thinking a Hammerite, maybe?

Thanks

C

[charles]

Is it a metal or a plastic cupboard? I assume metal.

[Adrian]

Whatever the "what's the best paint for..." question, Hammershite is _NEVER_ the right answer, with one exception.

"What's the best paint for leaving on the shelf at the retailer?"

The meter cupboard's a hard plastic that won't see much if any flexing, so just about any paint, so long as it's on top of the right primer.

[Andy Burns]

My neighbour painted his with whatever gloss he used on the garage door, seems to have lasted better on the meterbox than the garage, as he didn't repaint the meter when he repainted the garage ...

[Nightjar]

I used Dulux Gloss, which was still good when I moved several years later.

[Tim Watts]

There is some funky plastic friendly paint recommended for this - I have some for the same reason - it's in the shed (not yet used). Give me a couple of days and I'll tell you the make.

[Huge]

I painted the (white) plastic drain pipes from my water softener black, to match the guttering, with ordinary gloss paint. 4 or 5 years later, in a south facing situation (which used to make the paint fall off my wooden windows in a few months), they're still fine.

[Robin]

I've no idea about "best" but FWIW a plastic one here seems to be coping after 3 years with Johnstone's Stormshield (pliolite based) masonry paint (used as that's what on the render/behind it). And before that it had 10+ years with Dulux Weathershield Smooth Masonry without flaking, disintegrating, running off to the circus etc.

[Geo]

The gas people moved our meter to the outside and screwed a box to the wall. Does the box now belong to me so I can decorate it?

[Stephen]

What primer would you recommend?

A family member has one of these boxes and whatever paint was on it is flaking quite badly. What would be the best way to get the old paint off before applying new paint?

I'm thinking heat will melt the plastic, sanding may scratch the plastic, and will a paint stripper react with the plastic?

Thanks, Stephen.

[stvlcnc43]

In my experience, today's paint strippers are unlikely to react with the paint, let alone the plastic.

[alan_m]

To get the new paint to stick you want to give it something to key to. Sand with a coarse grit to get the old paint off and a fine grit to get a fine grain key. I'd recomend hand sanding with a wet and dry block using plenty of water.

Maybe

(but the description doesn't say can be used wet)