Painting Over Metal Roof

Water resistant metal roofing paint for example can be of great value if you live in a rainy area.

Painting over metal roof.

Unfortunately over time this coating can fail leading to minor rust outbreaks. If you re not sure what kind of roof you have ask a professional roofer to inspect it before you paint it. This article is meant to clarify the answers to some of the most common questions our customers have about painting a metal roof. If you have a terne metal roof like this one then it has probably been repainted several times over the years.

Metal roofs are prone to rust because they are constantly exposed to the elements. If you are preparing to paint a rusted galvanized metal roof pay special attention to surface preparation or you will have a recurrence of rust and or flaking. Not using a sealant. You can update your roof and prevent further rusting by cleaning it up and giving it a fresh coat of paint.

Another mistake is to forget or ignore using a sealant before the application of the metal paint. Although it isn t recommended to use a metal implement to scrape the roof it was the only way to remove the loose rust and old paint. Try to achieve a slightly abraded texturized finish as this helps your new paint bond with the roof finish. This is why when you are considering painting your metal roofing it makes sense to go for specific paints for the metal roof.

However if you want to paint over prepainted metal you re in luck. Before painting you ll still need to do a little. You ll also need to purchase a primer designed for metal roofs. This information is aimed at the residential customer but can easily pertain to a commercial application as well.

If properly painted the paint will not only improve the appearance but protect the roof from further rusting. Prepainted metallic surfaces can be treated almost like any other basic latex or oil painted surface. Sand the entire metal roof surface very lightly with your wire brush or sandpaper. Metal surfaces require specialized primer and paint for good paint adhesion.