My father and I recently sided my house with Hardiplank Select Cedarmill. Nice stuff, just a little dusty when cutting the trim. I like the look of the Hardie Vented Soffit and would like to use it. My father thinks it’s going to be a pita to paint with all the holes getting clogged. We use Benjamin Moore paint, which is a little thick, so I understand his concern to a certain degree.
Does anyone have experience painting this stuff. I’d prefer to use something other than vinyl. He also thought I was nuts using HardiPlank but loves the look after it’s installed and painted so hopefully I can convince him on the soffit material.
Thanks.
Robert
Replies
You could prime and paint before you nail it up so the drips go to the 'bad' side, use Floetrol in the paint so it works more smoothly, and/or spray the paint if you have the equipment.
I don't know what Hardisoffit looks like, but when I've had to paint stuff with small holes (like radiator screens), I've found that a roller works pretty good. Keep the roller a bit unloaded. That is, not fully soaked with paint and roll a little bit on a piece of scrap first to remove excess paint if necessary.
You can even thin the primer to reduce clogging, but I wouldn't thin the topcoat. Use 2 light coats rather than 1 heavier coat.
Experiment first and let us know how it turns out.
I did mine with a sponge roller, a coat of primer and color on the ground and then a second coat of color after install. The Hardie soffit is half holes, half solid. Load up your roller, roll it out a little on the solid part, then cover the part with holes.
Another tip, since those holes are about 3/16, get a roll of insect screen, rip it to the width of the holes and staple it up before installing the soffit. It's thwarted about a million asian ladybugs on my house.