What Happens When You Paint Colorbond Fence?
Unlike the little girl above who thinks painting everything is the best idea ever, is painting your Colorbond fence a good idea after all? Let’s see.
Colorbond fences are made out of the Colorbond steel. This material is widely used all over Australia either for roofs, fences, walls, gutters, garage doors and for many, many other purposes. We know, or let us remind you, that Colorbond steel is one of the best materials out there because it’s non-combustible, very durable and resilient to Australian changing and sometimes harsh weather. It’s strong and easily maintainable. All you have to do is give it a rinse with water once in a while and make sure that there’s now buildup of soil and dirt on your Colorbond steel whether it’s used for fencing, roofing or any other purposes. You should give it a rinse every 6 months or so. But if you live in a coastal area and your Colorbond steel is exposed to salty water then giving it a rinse more often than once in 6 months is a good idea.
But no matter how well maintained your Colorbond fence, roof or other item made of Colorbond steel is, the time will affect Colorbond steel eventually in one way or another. It might loose its shiny looks or just normal depreciation happens, and you want to make your Colorbond steel look better. If washing it to bring it back to its initial glory doesn’t work anymore, should you paint it instead? Or maybe the lack of newish look is not the case, maybe you’re just sick of the colour of the Colorbond steel you initially picked?
The answer is yes, you can paint Colorbond steel. But before you take on that big of a job, depending if it’s the Colobond steel fence or the roof you want to paint, you should know and do a few things. Firstly make sure your old Colorbond steel fence or roof is clean. By that we mean that you have to clean it with a mop or a bristle brush with non-ionic detergent and water. And then make sure that you hose down all the surface with water. If possible then use pressure washer to get the job done quickly.
And then just make sure it dries off nicely. Then you are ready to paint your Colorbond steel fence or Colorbond steel roof.
Just one thing to remember before you go and grab your painting brush to paint your Colorbond steel fence. If you decide to paint your Colorbond steel then know that it will void any guarantees that you might have on Colorbond steel.
Okay, still up for it? Then here’s some knowledge about what paint to choose for painting your Colorbond fence. Due to ongoing improvements in paint technologies, please remember that the best way would be to consult with the paint supplier who knows a great deal about the paint technologies and would be able to advise with the best possible option for your Colorbond steel fence. But we will mention the following:
1. Air drying paints have different weathering characteristics to Colorbond steel. That means that Colorbond steel’s high durability is not matched by air-dried paints.
2. Colorbond steel surface must be suitable for painting. Making Colrobond steel surface ready for painting depends on the age and the conditions of the surface.
3. The most popular suitable paint for overpainting Colorbond steel is generally water-based acrylic. But when it comes to more corrosive areas it would be better to choose paint that has enhanced corrosion resistance.
4. If you do use air-drying paint to overpaint your Colorbond steel fence then be aware that air-drying paints may weather at a different rate thus varying in appearance over time.
Of course when you start painting Colorbond steel then make sure that you’ll follow safety guidelines of the paint supplier and wear an appropriate equipment. But that’s no brainer we hope!
What to do if your Colorbond steel fence looks actually good, but you noticed some scratches that you’d like to get rid off? Well, hold your forces for a second. Remember what we told about making your Colorbond steel warranty void? Yes, so if you do notice that the scratch is less than 2 mm in width and barely noticeable from ground level, then our recommendation would just to leave it alone as it’s still protected against the corrosion. But if the scratches are bigger, wider, and you’re still have the warranty then let the affected areas to be replaced.
Also bare in mind that using air-drying paints to cover the scratches is not the best idea as we mentioned before that air-drying paint has different weather characteristics to Colorbond steel so it will lead to colour variation in time. So having a touch-up paint for Colorbond steel is not the brightest idea.
So here you have it! If and how to paint Colorbond steel fence or roof.
Diamond Fence offers Colorbond steel fencing services for industrial and commercial purposes. So give us a call (03) 9753 4566 , shoot us an email on info@diamondfence.com.au , or just get a FREE online quote.
