how to clean and paint mobile home aluminum siding

Looking to spruce up your mobile home? Updating your siding is a good do-it-yourself project that will deliver immediate and significant results to your home's look. In some cases, installing new siding is a must. However, in other cases, painting your aluminum siding will get the job done with a rewarding outcome.

If you don't feel like painting it, get an offer to sell it today. We do all the work!

Featured image for "DIY: How To Paint Aluminum Siding On A Mobile Home" blog post

Follow along as we guide you in this do-it-yourself project. By the end of this article, you'll know how to paint aluminum siding on a mobile home.

How to paint aluminum siding on a mobile home

In the 1940s, aluminum siding hit the scene as a popular siding option. The allure of durability and ease of maintainability hit home designs by storm. With the right care, aluminum siding can protect your home for several decades. But the paint on the aluminum can take a beating as time goes on due to weather conditions. Rain, sun, and oxidation is a real threat.

Before we get to instructions on how to paint aluminum siding on a mobile home, you must first evaluate whether painting your aluminum siding is a good idea. Alternatively, replacing it with vinyl may be a better investment , depending on certain qualifiers.

If your aluminum siding is dinged up and the wear goes beyond a paint fix, then you may wish to consider vinyl. The pigmentation of vinyl siding is embedded into the material, so you won't have to worry about re-painting or repairing scratches.

Prep by washing away the grime

For best results with your paint, you'll want to thoroughly wash the aluminum siding on your mobile home. The effectiveness of power washing is going to be quicker and provide better results than if you were to scrub the mobile home down by hand.

A power washer spraying water

To power wash your aluminum siding, feed the machine a concoction of cleaning solution and water. This cleaning solution can be a mix of vinegar and water or even bleach. As you power wash the exterior of your home, make sure your nozzle is no more than a foot from the siding and use a low setting.

Follow up by setting the power washer up with a bucket of plain water for rinsing the solution off your home.

Check for damage

Now that you have a clean canvas, look for any missing screw(s), rust damage, and a powdery layer.

If screws are missing, carefully replace them. And when it comes to rust damage, you can use a cleaning solution that uses trisodium phosphate to remove the rust stains. As far as chalky substances go, once again employ trisodium phosphate cleaners to help wash it off thoroughly. For this last one, your power washer will come in handy again.

Get your hands on the right paint

So it's estimated you can expect a gallon of paint to cover 300 to 400 square feet of siding. The kind of paint you're looking for is exterior oil-based primer geared for metal surfaces. After it's dry, you can coat it with an acrylic paint – all this will give you a long-lasting paint job.

When you buy your paint, be sure to get all you need before getting started. You may need to place a special order if the store doesn't have enough buckets of paint in stock. That's fine. It's better to wait for all your paint to arrive.

If you get started with only part of what you need, you may set yourself for disappointment when you find that they can't match the color. Such a predicament is money down the drain and it could pave the way for a shoddy paint job.

And let's get to it!

Here we are at the final step in how to paint aluminum siding on a mobile home.

a pair of scissors and a roll of black tape

Before you apply the paint, tape the areas you don't wish to get your paint sprayed or rolled on (doors, windows, etc). You can tape plastic sheeting over the doors and windows. As soon as you're done painting, remember to pull the tape off otherwise a sticky residue will be left behind.

For an evenly coated paint job, we suggested using a paint sprayer . First, begin with the primer. After it's dry you may then coat the siding with your acrylic exterior paint. For optimal results, apply a second coat of the acrylic.

Get started on your DIY paint job!

Now look at that – you now know how to paint aluminum siding on a mobile home. This will give your home a nice curb appeal and it doesn't have to break the bank. There's nothing like a fresh paint job to give your home a fresh look.

For another DIY tutorial, how about our guide on how to relevel a double wide mobile home ?

Dan Leighton has been working in the mobile home industry for over a decade. His focus has been on sales and customer relations - making sure each person in the transaction is comfortable and fully transparent. He has a wife and one son. Dan continues to look for innovative ways to help both sellers and parks get the most bang for their buck.

View all posts by Dan Leighton