Peeling Paint Part 2 – Exterior Lights

Ron's Painting

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INTERIOR • EXTERIOR  • FAUX FINISHING in Southwest Florida.

Serving Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero and Cape Coral, FL.

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Peeling Paint Part 2 – Exterior Lights

The weather is changing. The days will be getting cooler and many homeowners will start evaluating their homes’ exterior to see what needs sprucing up before the holidays.  One of the first things many of our clients notice is peeling paint from exterior metal lights on the front of their homes.  Have you noticed this on your home? Yes, it can be unsightly!

This is caused by the salt air we have in Florida.  Should you buy new lights or paint them?  That is a really good question; here are some ideas that may help you.  Depending on the size of the light and how expensive a new one may be, many times I recommend to my clients to just replace them.  Sometimes it is cheaper to replace rather than paint.

However, if the light is a very expensive and very large, they can be painted. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to do this correctly.

1. Remove the glass from the light and wire brush off all of the loose paint, taking it down to the metal.  The more paint you remove, the better results you’ll have.
2. Apply a coat of clear chalk sealer to the metal with a small brush and allow to dry.  By applying the chalk sealer this will seal in the efflorescence caused by the salt air.
3. Then, apply a coat of Sherwin Williams Prep-Rite bonding primer.  Have the primer tinted as close as possible to match the finish coat.
4. After primer has dried, paint the light with a finish coat of paint in the color you want.  As an option for a finish coat of paint and to really enhance the look of your lights, go to Benjamin Moore and look at their selection of Modern Masters Metallic Paint.  You can paint your lights in an antique copper or a blackened bronze color.
5. Paint several coats, then to really make them stand out, faux finish the lights in another color of metallic paint over your base coat using a sea sponge.

When your friends and neighbors see your lights they will think you spend thousands of dollars on new ones!

  By Ron Rooker

President Ron's Painting LLC.

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