Dealing With Stains on Your Lanai | Southwest Florida Painting

You’re sitting on your lanai enjoying this wonderful Florida weather and having guests over for a BBQ when you notice that rear metal lanai ceiling has black staining on it.  Then you realize it is mold.  Now what do you do?  Can this metal be painted?  How do you clean it?  If you paint it, will the paint stick to the metal or will it peel off?

These are all good questions that I am asked quite often.  When painting a metal lanai ceiling, the first thing that must be done is wash off the mold.  You can either pressure clean it or hand wash it depending on the location of the lanai ceiling and the surrounding surfaces.  Be sure to protect surrounding surfaces so nothing can be damaged by chlorine.  By washing the metal lanai ceiling you will be removing the mold. Then, all you have to do is rinse with clean water and allow to dry overnight.

If there are signs of rust, grind down these areas with a small wire brush attachment on a drill, but be careful not to damage the metal.  You’ll then clean it and apply a primer. The best rust-inhibited primer I have found is POR-15; it can only be purchased on line.  Apply it to the rusted area only.  Allow to dry overnight.

I always lightly sand the POR-15 and apply a coat of Cover Stain oil based bonding primer to it. It is sold in spray cans and is much easier.

Then, apply a coat of Glidden Gripper bonding primer which can be purchased at Home Depot to the entire metal lanai ceiling.  Use a short napped roller cover so you don't leave a lot of stipple on the ceiling.

Allow the primer to dry, then apply a premium coat of exterior latex in a satin or gloss finish.  I usually use Sherwin Williams Resilience in a gloss finish.  The higher the sheen, the less chance for mold and dirt to adhere to the surface.

Now all you have to do is fire up the BBQ and enjoy your lanai.

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