Hi all, I've been involved in this discussion before on this site. Regarding the Old House Web link posted above, you can read my response below. People keep bringing up that thread, but nobody seems to bother to read it carefully. As for touch ups, they did leave us a bucket of the CHIC product. As for the issue of it being "vinyl" and all the negative connotations that go along with that, I can tell you that it's not some funky plastic wrap. It's paint. It looks like paint on the house, and as I said before, nobody would know that I didn't just freshly paint my house, unless I told them otherwise. I keep "throwing around" the 5 year paint job, because I've never lived in a house where the paint job looked good beyond that point. At the 5 year mark, there were obvious signs of problems...chalking when you rubbed against the siding...little alligator cracking in places, maybe even some peeling here and there. Three of my neighbors just repainted their houses this summer, and all told me that it had been more like 10 years since they last painted. But, it LOOKED like it was 10 years. Each house probably should have been painted sooner. Also, if paint lasts so long, how come NONE of the painting contractors I contacted would offer more than a 2-year waranty? Regarding the water vapor issue and Perm ratings, here are some actual scientific studies from a reputable testing company. The Perm ratings are all listed below (next to last paragraph). This information is on the CHIC website: ***** I thought I'd pass along this bit of information regarding the liquid vinyl coating (see below). If painting your house would not cause it to rot, then I don't think the liquid vinyl would either. As for the link above that Suzie posted, most of that forum is over 4 years old now, and they are all complaining about one particular company, Alvis, which has gone out of business and was ripping off customers due to lousy workmanship. The best product in the world won't stand up to a lousy, incompetent installation by a disreputable contractor. Does CHIC Liquid Vinyl Breathe? This is very important question and one that many people ask. If Chic Liquid Vinyl or any other exterior coating did not breathe (which is another term for "vapor permeability"), there could be a problem because moisture vapor would build up in the wall of the house, would condense and over time would cause wood damage, mildew, and mold. Vapor Permeability is the degree to which water or water vapor can penetrate (or escape from) a buildings material. This permeability is measured in perms. The lower the perm rating of a coating; the lower the vapor permeability. Conversely, the higher the perm rating of a coating; the higher the vapor permeability. The Boston based Building Science Corporation (www.buildingscience.com) can help one understand perm ratings. Building Science Corporation is an architectural and building science consulting firm with clients throughout North America. This company is internationally recognized for its expertise in moisture dynamics, indoor air quality and building failure investigations. They have a glossary that includes some definitions that relate to vapor permeability. Here are those definitions. Vapor Impermeable: Materials with a perm rating of 0.1 less. (rubber membrane, polyethylene film, glass, aluminum foil) · Vapor Semi-Impermeable: Materials with a perm rating greater than 0.1 but less than 1.0. (oil-based paints) · Vapor Semi-Permeable: Materials with a perm rating greater than 1.0 but less than 10.0 (plywood, OSB, most latex-based paints, elastomeric paints and coatings) · Vapor Permeable: Materials with a perm rating greater than 10 perms (house wraps, building papers) What is the Perm rating of CHIC Liquid Vinyl? Using the ASTM* E96 Procedure B test method, CHIC Liquid Vinyl has a Perm rating of 18. This rating confirms that CHIC Liquid Vinyl is on the high end of the vapor permeable category. Therefore, CHIC Liquid Vinyl is very breatheable, thus allowing water vapor to escape from the building wall. CHIC Liquid Vinyl has been applied to exterior walls of all kinds on thousands of buildings in North America over the last 21 years. In that 21-year period there has not been one issue of wood rot, mildew, or mold resulting from the application of the CHIC Liquid Vinyl System.

VinylSafe is a good option for painting siding. Even tho it's formulated to manage energy/heat accumulation, I'd err on the side of cautious and choose a light color to paint the siding. If you know the manufacturer of the siding and can look up the color specifications and/or warranty, that would be ideal. Somewhere in the documentation for the siding it will give you spec's for LRV. For example it will say something like: Siding can be painted. Colors must have a LRV above 55. Failure to follow painting instructions will void all warranties.

I would prime with a 100 percent acrylic bonding primer. Have the primer tinted to a medium gray. I would also sand the vinyl first. Cottage Red is a stock BM color, so that means it will cover very well if you use BM paint instead of having it matched in some other brand. Factory tints are much stronger than machine tinting done at the paint store. If you try to paint Cottage Red over white vinyl that you had custom matched at SW, I bet you are looking at 4 coats minimum.

Yes it can. I painted mine on the first home I owned over 20 years ago. I drive by the house every day on my way to work. It hasn’t been repainted and still looks good. BUT it’s all about the prep work. I did all of the prep and painting myself as well as used a high quality paint....