Hi there, I will be taking the Summer off this year and I would like to do some home improvements at home. I would like to paint my vinyl siding. I have done some research on the web and I am aware of the whole cleaning, priming and painting. The one thing I am concerned with is that I have read numerous times that I cannot paint the vinyl any shade darker than the one already on. My vinyl is currently off white. I would like to paint it a pastel yellow/light country yellow, but I am not sure. I would hate for it to start buckling or peeling. Can anyone help me make my final decision? Thanks:confused:

If you had asked this question several years ago, I don't think you would have liked the answer. But fortunately, there have been some major breakthroughs in the paint and coatings industry. Several new exterior paints are available that have been formulated to stick to vinyl siding. They perform so well that the paint manufacturers offer a long term warranty so long as you follow the paint label instructions.


Painting vinyl siding is challenging for several reasons. Vinyl siding has a very high expansion/contraction coefficient. This simply means that it expands and contracts significantly as it experiences periods of exposure to sunlight and then periods of shade or darkness. This movement of the siding caused traditional exterior paints to fail in short order as the bond between the paint and the siding was severed by this constant back and forth movement.

Vinyl siding also soaks up heat to a great degree. If it gets too hot, it can buckle and distort. This is why many vinyl products are offered in lighter colors. Because of this fact, you can actually damage your vinyl siding if you paint it a color that is too dark. The paint manufacturers highly recommend that you paint the vinyl siding a color that is no darker than the current shade of your vinyl siding.