Painting roof with Exterior Paint?

[4U2NV]

I have an 86 Coleman Skamper 240C. It has the aluminum roof that is looking a little old. I have a gallon of tan exterior paint left from the house and thought i'd use it on the PUs roof. I figured, if its good enough for the exterior of the house why not use it to paint the PUs roof. Could i get some feedback on this Good/bad... Thanks and in my fourm search i saw very little on this.

[wavery]

I have an 86 Coleman Skamper 240C. It has the aluminum roof that is looking a little old. I have a gallon of tan exterior paint left from the house and thought i'd use it on the PUs roof. I figured, if its good enough for the exterior of the house why not use it to paint the PUs roof. Could i get some feedback on this Good/bad... Thanks and in my fourm search i saw very little on this.

It depends on what kind of paint it is. Look at the can and see if it lists aluminum siding (or whatever your PU is made of) as one of these things that it is formulated for.

Most house paints are formulated for porous surfaces like wood or concrete. If you use that type of paint, it may not adhere, even if you use a primer. Also, those types of paints are very hard and brittle. the vibration of towing may make it crack.

[flyfisherman]

My question would be is it a latex or an oil based exterior house paint? Me thinks the oil base might not work too goodly.

As with ALL paint jobs, it's the preperation of the sub-surface that makes for a good long lasting surface. The cleaning, the scuffing (sanding) and very, very important ... the primer. In the case of the aluminum skin, a two part acid etch primer would be what you want. Can be sprayed on or put on with a roller. Same goes for the a latex house paint. There have been folks on this site who have used Sherwin-Williams "Duration" ... an exterior latex house paint. The advantage of the latex house paint is it can be rolled on and then scuffed in three years and aonther coat rolled on.

Of course, as everyone knows, the best top coat would be a single stage urethane automotive finish paint, but you would be getting into a considerable higher priced paint plus you would have to spray it on.

There ... now you know as much as I do about paint.



Fly

[fivecampers]

I painted my old Jayco roof and all.  I used an aluminum primer and then an exterior house paint that said it was good for aluminum siding.  It worked great but unless your paint says it works on aluminum I doubt it will adhere very well.
Dan

I have an 86 Coleman Skamper 240C. It has the aluminum roof that is looking a little old. I have a gallon of tan exterior paint left from the house and thought i'd use it on the PUs roof. I figured, if its good enough for the exterior of the house why not use it to paint the PUs roof. Could i get some feedback on this Good/bad... Thanks and in my fourm search i saw very little on this.

[austinado16]

About 20 years ago a GF and I restored an early 60's trailer and we repainted the exterior with an aluminum rated latex house paint.  We used "Glidden Spread Satin."  That turned out to be a permanent paint job.

2 years ago, after repairing some pretty bad damage in the roof of my new-to-me Starcraft Nova, I used a primer and oil based paint from Sherwyn-Williams.  I figure if they were able to come up with paint that stuck to fighter planes in WWII, they ought to have something that would stay on the roof of a popup.  I rolled on both the primer and the paint and it still looks very good.  It's survived 2 tows of 1,200mi each to and from the Grand Canyon in hundred-and-teens air temps.

[rcjsmom]

I painted the roof of my 1999 jayco 12so this fall.  I initially bought some exterior paint for metal siding, but after putting it on, I didn't like how dull it looked.  I did put a spray primer on first after thoroughly cleaning it and scraping away the droppings and bug guts that had not come off on other cleanings.  I bought a clear coat spray on, but that didn't make it glossy either, not like I wanted.  I then bought a white coating that was meant for mobile homes.  It was a rubberized compound and was twice as thick as paint.  I really liked how it painted (used a roller with it). But still no gloss.  So, I bought the car clear coat from the local autozone store at $23 per quart.  I know you're supposed to spray it on, but I rolled it on and it looks just fine.  (Be ware of the smell!)  Now, my roof is not a smooth roof, it has a texture to it, so it was more forgiving with roller marks, but it really did sortof self level.  It took 3 cans, I think, maybe 4, to put 3 coats on the entire roof while sanding with an automotive grit sandpaper between coats, plus front and back (which are also metal).  Though I spent nearly $150 in supplies to do it, it looks brand new.  If you get up close you might see a brush stroke here or there where I touched up what looked like a couple of hail damage dings, but from a distance, it glistens.    The true test will be how it survives the weather this summer, but right now, you would never guess it's age.  I also took some tips from other posters and spray painted all my other metal parts a color.  I chose dark burgundy because the canvas trim on my camper is dark burgundy.  That looks sharp too!

[4U2NV]

Thanks for the replies... Just a thought, what about taking it to a place that sprays beds and having it rhinolined to match the PU? Again just a thought.

[austinado16]

Thanks for the replies... Just a thought, what about taking it to a place that sprays beds and having it rhinolined to match the PU? Again just a thought.

I was considering that path when I completed my roof repair because my sheetmetal skin had so much damage.  The local Rhino lining place said the colored coating don't hold here color and wind up looking really bad after a few years.  It would have been $400ish to coat the roof, and an add'l $100 for the color tint.

I've since seen a horse trailer that someone had the exterior done in black Rhino lining.  I'm not sure why you'd want your horses inside a black trailer, but whatever.  The Rhino lining looked terrible.  The texture had trapped in that tan dust you get that settles on stuff, and then the morning dew sort of locks it to the surface.  Plus the coating had faded from black to a dingy grey.  The whole trailer looked like an old car tire that had been left out in the desert for 10 years.

The process I used took 1qt of primer and 1qt of the top coat.  The top coat dried glossy, just like the original finish had been.  I used 2 roller pads, 1 plastic roller tray liners, and prepped the roof by washing it with a sponge and soap/water, and then going over it with rags which I'd sprayed carb cleaner into.
Here's how it turned out:

[AppFire]

I have a '97 flagstaff, aluminum roof which had minut hairline cracks in the ends where it folds down the side, after alot of online studying I decided to coat the entire roof with koolseal from Lowes, after a year I have not had the first problem with it.  It coated and sealed everything, even covered all the silicone.  The only drawback I have seen is it is dull and not shiny, and harder to clean when we get back home.  I am now going to paint over the koolseal with some gloss oil based rustoleum paint to give it a shiny surface so it will be much easier to clean.