From time-to-time, homeowners like to change up the look of their homes. While there is nothing wrong with this desire, if your home has older vinyl siding that needs an update, painting the siding is not the way to go about this change. Learn why painting vinyl siding often causes more harm than good.
1. Siding Damage
Painting vinyl siding might offer an immediate facelift, but in the long-run, it will only damage your siding. Vinyl siding is a material that contracts when it's cold and expands when it's warm. When the contractor installed the siding, each panel was perfectly measured and installed to accommodate for these frequent shifts.
The reason this level of precision is followed is so that when the siding expands, the seams of each panel don't overlap. A problem with painting vinyl siding is that even a thin layer of paint will alter the dimensions of the siding panels, including the seams.
As a result, when it's hot outside and the vinyl siding expands, the paint can cause the seams of the siding to overlap. When the seams overlap, this process puts extra tension on the siding, and the result of this tension is often cracking. Cracks in the siding allow for water intrusion that can damage the underlayers of the siding and even the interior spaces of your home.
2. Voids Warranty
If your vinyl siding is covered by a warranty program, painting can void this protection and leave you left to cover the cost of any damage entirely on your own. First, manufacturers cover their products as-is. The moment you paint over the siding, you immediately alter the product and therefore lose any protection you had.
For a homeowner with newer siding that simply wants to give their home a facelift, this step could cause them to lose years of deserved protection. Second, the painting of the siding alters its performance. For example, siding is treated based on its color, in that darker siding is treated to reduce heat absorption more than lighter color siding.
As a result, if you paint light-colored siding with dark-colored paint, the siding will absorb more heat than it should. The extra absorption can cause the siding to warp, as a result, which causes permanent damage.
If your siding is old and dated, painting is not the solution. You need to speak with an installation contractor to discuss replacing the siding for better results.
To learn more about vinyl siding, contact a siding contractor near you.
