Most roofing coatings today are colored at the factory and do not require further painting. But what if rust appears on the roof or the once bright material has lost its color? Our answer: you need to paint it!
Many manufacturers today offer such an impressive palette of colors and shades of their material to choose from. that choosing the right one will not be difficult. Most summer residents do this, choosing roofing material of the desired color. But there are types of roofing materials that are not only possible, but in some cases simply necessary to paint on your own.
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Learn how to paint a car roof carefully and quickly?
The roof of a car usually remains in its original form longer than other body parts. This is explained by the fact that it is least intensively exposed to environmental factors, with the exception of atmospheric ones, however, they can also damage the paintwork over time. In addition, it becomes necessary to paint the roof of the car if it is repainted. This article discusses painting a car roof.
Preparatory work
First of all, you need to choose the paint color. You need to be especially responsible when choosing when repainting your car locally. To do this, you can use the code of the original paint, but you need to take into account that over the course of the vehicle’s operation, the paintwork may change shade. Therefore, sometimes it is advisable to use the help of a colorist. The situation with choosing the color of the paint material is simpler if the car is completely repainted.
Painting a car roof is not as difficult as it seems, and it begins with preparing the working surface. First, it is cleaned of all contaminants. If there are dents on the roof, they need to be straightened by straightening and leveled with putty. To understand the technology for carrying out this work, you should watch the video.
Before starting work, you need to cover all non-paintable elements of the car with plastic film, securing it with masking tape.
Then matting begins; for these works, you can use fine-grained sandpaper (P1000-P1200) or Scotch-Brite with matting abrasive paste. During the matting process, varnish or gloss is removed to ensure better adhesion of the new paint to the original. Upon completion of the work, the surface must be blown with a spray gun compressor in order to remove the resulting dust. You can clearly see the matting process in the video. Then the car roof is degreased with a cloth soaked in a solvent.
The final stage of preparatory work is wiping the work surface with a sticky cloth to completely clean it.
Types of paint
Often, one of the following three compositions is used to paint the roof surface:
- Acrylic paint.
- Oil paint.
- Paint and varnish material with the addition of anti-corrosion substances.
The most budget-friendly roof painting option is oil paint. The disadvantage of this solution is the need to periodically replace the paint, which entails a waste of time and money. This dye is not very good in use, so it wears out quickly.
The best option is acrylic paint . It has a higher price tag, but is more durable and reliable. This dye has a long service life and protects the roof surface for a long time, in addition to giving the roof an attractive appearance.
Anti-corrosion paints are considered special paints for metal and have all the necessary characteristics. Anti-corrosion components are added to the compositions of various paints, starting with acrylic and ending with oil and alkyd.
There is a separate type of roof paint - roofing. It is intended for painting galvanized material. Anti-corrosion paints dry much faster because they contain synthetic resin.
Thanks to synthetic resins, it is possible to obtain a matte, semi-matte or glossy finish. Another advantage of such dyes is their good resistance to dirt, which is one of the causes of corrosion.
Advantages of anti-corrosion paints:
- Acceptable hiding power.
- Good resistance to rust and corrosion.
- Short drying time.
- Durability – this dye will last up to 8 years.
- Wide range of colors.
- Possibility of applying dye to damaged or poorly prepared surfaces.
- Repels water, dirt and resistance to other atmospheric influences.
Recommendations
The described work should be carried out either in a paint booth or in a garage prepared for the corresponding work. It is unacceptable to do this outdoors or in a dusty or damp room. You should purchase high-quality materials, since low-quality paint or varnish can not only complicate the work, but also ruin the result.
Since the car roof is a large horizontal surface, you should use a spray gun to paint it.
In addition, it is located quite high, so to provide more convenient access to it, you should create a stand or platform on the sides or along the perimeter of the car.
Before starting work with your own hands, you should practice on some similar horizontal metal surface. This will allow you not only to master the painting technique, but also to adjust the spray gun to the required pressure (it should produce an oval-shaped torch). It is also advisable to watch the video.
Source
How to paint a car roof
The roof is the most inconspicuous and least susceptible to damage part of the car body. But even if it avoids a tree or a block of ice falling on it, if it is not damaged by large hail or the sharp beaks of birds, over time the paint on it fades, becomes dull from sunlight, deteriorates from rain and other external influences. To ensure that the roof does not stand out from the general background due to its unesthetic appearance, it must be painted.
Preparing for painting
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If there is no special spray booth, then this can be done in a garage equipped with an air filtration hood. You cannot paint the roof outdoors, where dust, insects, and sudden rain can ruin the painting result. Painting the roof of a car is done only with a spray gun using a compressor.
The following supplies will be required:
Before painting the roof, the rest of the car is covered with film and secured with masking tape.
Preparation for painting begins with washing the car roof using car shampoo. If there are places with mechanical damage - scratches, chips of the paintwork - they are puttied, leveled and primed. You cannot apply paint directly to putty without a primer, or to a glossy surface. Before painting, the roof is matted - the glossy layer is removed and tiny grooves are applied to ensure strong adhesion of the paint to the surface being painted. In this case, use fine-grained sandpaper or Scotch-Brite with matting paste.
After matting, the roof is blown with compressed air, then degreased - wiped with a lint-free cloth soaked in white spirit. To remove settled dust, wipe the roof with a sticky cloth. Now the car roof is ready for painting.
It is necessary to take care of protective equipment. The painter must be provided with, at a minimum, goggles, a respirator, and gloves. If he is short, he will need a stand to freely reach a little further than the middle of the roof. The only thing that is not recommended to do on your own is choosing the paint tone. This would be better done by a car service technician.
Roof painting procedure
It is recommended to paint the roof in warm, calm weather. On this day, the air temperature should not fall below 5-10 °C. But heat is also contraindicated: the temperature of the surface to be painted should not exceed 40 °C. You should not start “painting work” in very humid weather.
The ideal option is partly cloudy. So that the surface has time to dry before the evening dew, it is better to finish the work before lunch. If the coating is new, freshly laid, pre-coat it with a primer to enhance adhesion. First, apply paint to the slopes under the gutters.
Then you can move on to the main part of the roof. Try not to apply the paint too thickly - it will dry slowly and may crack. It is better to apply the paint in thin layers, allowing each layer to dry for 3-7 days (the entire job can take up to two weeks).
OUR ADVICE
A new roof is usually painted in 2-3 layers; an old roof may need 1-2 layers. Manufacturers usually indicate how long it will take for one coat of paint to dry completely. The final coating must be allowed to dry for the entire required period without operating the roof.
Proper painting
Painting a car roof will go flawlessly if you first acquire the skill of handling a spray gun. Why you can try to paint some metal sheet, while looking for an acceptable pressure of the paint jet and the best rhythm of hand movement with the tool. Painting is carried out from one edge of the roof to the other, moving the spray gun smoothly, continuously, without stopping in one place.
Having finished applying the first layer of paint, let it dry. The drying time of the paint is indicated in the instructions for use on the container and is usually 10-20 minutes. Before applying the second coat, it is advisable to wipe the roof with a sticky cloth to collect any settled dust. The second pass exactly repeats the first. After the second layer has dried, the painted surface is also wiped with a sticky cloth.
Choosing paint for a metal roof
What material is used for the roof? You might think that this question is rhetorical, since it is already clear that we are talking about a metal roof. There are some nuances here that need to be paid attention to, because a roof that needs painting can be covered with black or galvanized metal.
Regular construction paints are not suitable for painting a galvanized roof. It is necessary to select a painting composition that will not destroy this layer, but, on the contrary, will strengthen it. In this case, it is better to use vinyl, acrylic or acrylic-vinyl paints. In addition to excellent adhesion properties, these dyes remain flexible after drying, so they will not crack on a metal roof even with sudden temperature changes. You also need to take into account that paint adheres worse to zinc than to a metal roof that has been stripped of it.
Ferrous metal can be painted with cheaper oil-based paint, but this is not the best option, since repairs will have to be performed much more often due to the fact that such a coating is short-lived.
Recently, water-soluble paints have gained popularity. More detailed information about working with such dyes can be obtained by watching the video:
