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eclecticcottage

Sherwin Williams Emerald Still "Soft"???

eclecticcottage
10 years ago

We are painting the aluminum siding on our home. It has never been repainted and is likely 30-40 years old. There are some spots where someone dripped paint (from window trim, and painting a chimney). These spots are rock hard and I can't scrape them off. However, even though we scrubbed the siding before painting, the portion we've painted with "Emerald" (supposedly even better than "duration") and the sample we got to be sure we liked the color in "Resiliance" can easily be scraped off with a fingernail. The "Resiliance" seems softer but not much-this one was painted over a MONTH ago! Both portions are inside of a covered sunroom with no exposure to rain, and it certainly warms up inside. Has anyone used either of these and if so, did it ever actually cure to a reasonably hard coating? I'm afraid to keep going with it, yet I cant' really afford to toss several gallons of paint. The point was to make the place look BETTER, not coat it with paint that's not going to stick and harden!

Comments (7)

  • PRO
    Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
    10 years ago

    Did you do proper prep work?

  • eclecticcottage
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Define "proper prep work".

    We powerwashed the heck out of it two years ago when we bought the house. Now that we're living here there is stuff in the room, so we didn't power wash again. However, there wasn't evidence of remaining chaulking. We used a scrubbing sponge and soapy water to clean any dirt, etc, then cleaned again with plain water to remove residue on one part half, then the other just water and the scrubbie on the other. I imagine if it was a little chaulky, that should ahve taken it off anyway. Since it's "inside", we didn't use chemicals.

    I know the parts that had accidental paint "spills" weren't prepped though, since they were not done on purpose. I scraped and scaped on the one part with the chimney paint and couldn't get it to scratch at all.

  • PRO
    Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
    10 years ago

    This siding is inside? If the paint is not sticking, you did not clean and or prime it properly. If it is still just soft and is not coming off, has it been 30 days to fully cure? If so, I would get a SW rep over there to see what's up.

  • eclecticcottage
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, it's inside. As I posted in the first post, it's in a sunroom (one of those old school preformed ones from the 70's). It's not inside of the house itself, but still in an enclosed area (roof, walls, cement floor).

    What else could/should we do? I've read what I can on doing this-powerwashing isn't required from my understanding although it will help remove dirt and chaulking. We did this, although it's been two years, it didn't seem chaulky when we did scrub it (no residue came off, just general dirt). Again, we didn't use TSP or any chemicals, mainly because it was "inside", and they also seemed to be an optional thing (unless you ask a company which sells them of course). Outside, we have fruit shrubs like blueberries near the one side (not against the house, set back about 4-5' but still within "absorbtion" distance) so we don't want to use chemicals on that side at least. On the other side there are flower gardens so I'd need something that wouldn't kill them off-some things like a hydrangea have been there a long time and I want to be careful of it.

    I still don't understand why paint accidently dripped/brushed on is so well bonded without ANY prep and paint that was put on on purpose with prep won't bond at all.

  • PRO
    Lori A. Sawaya
    10 years ago

    I still don't understand why paint accidently dripped/brushed on is so well bonded without ANY prep and paint that was put on on purpose with prep won't bond at all

    Probably old /old lead paint. The suggestion that it might be time to call SW is a good one.

  • eclecticcottage
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Update: we did try the Duration. It is better, but still easily scraped. We also did a test patch of the True Value Weatherall and that is not nearly as "scrapable" after a much shorter period of time. The Duration is a much thicker paint than the Weatherall, which might account for part of the difference. Both were painted on "fresh" parts of the siding where nothing had been painted before (except of course the original paint), and the same prep was given to both sections. My concern with the Weatherall is that is dried TOO well/fast/hard and might not be able to flex with the siding. I know when painting a car you have to add a special additive to the paint for urethane bumpers or it will crack, I'm wondering if Duration is formulated a bit like a bumper paint to ahve the flexibility....but the question remains, if it will ever truly cure or if it will remain TOO flexible and soft and be scratched the first time something comes into contact with it,

    Might try pressure washing the two test patches (Duration and Weatherall) this weekend to see if they can both hold up to that or not.