painting over silicone caulk

momof2labs

I started painting the overhang on my house. I used a clear silicone (GE brand) caulk thinking I'd paint over it with Zinsser Latex Primer. Wrong! Why doesn't paint adhere to silicone caulk? Any sugggestions for prepping it so it would accept the paint? And just when I was getting to be a "smarty pants".

liquidvw

remove the silicone and replace it with latex caulk. It will take the paint much better.

epson

Normally you can’t paint over silicone caulk because the paint won’t stick to it but if you pour a little denatured alcohol on a rag and wipe the alcohol across the surface of the silicone caulk, the alcohol acts like sandpaper and will make the caulk less shiny and smooth and the alcohol will evaporate so there is no need to dry the silicone after you wipe it down.

Now apply a very thin layer of siliconized acrylic latex caulk (which is paintable) over the silicone to paint over it. The second caulk will adhere to the silicone and make its surface a bit rougher and even more paintable. Allow it to dry thoroughly before you paint over it. After it is thoroughly dry use a brush and good oil based primer, you might have to apply two coats of primer to be able to paint over the silicone caulking. Also make sure you allow the primer to dry thoroughly before you proceed.

Now that your primer is dry and ready you can apply your finished coat but it also has to be oil based paint and you’re done.

Windows

Clear silicone caulk is designed to go on top of the finish coat. That's why it is clear. There maybe an application in which silicone caulk is appropriate, I have never found one, and the exterior of a house is definitely the wrong place for it. Seeing that it is done, the easiest way to make it paintable is to hit it with a spray bomb, and then put your latex finish coats on top of that. I would however be tempted to remove it altogether and redo it with something better as I don't consider silicone to be durable. If you do remove it, you will learn the other reason why it is a devil to work with.

jimmy21

silicone caulk is for places that don't need paint anywhere near them. Only place that comes to mind off the top of my head is to seal up a shower door on a tile/fiberglass shower.

momof2labs

This makes perfect sense! Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply.

moopey

epson nailed it. I've made the mistake of grabbing the wrong tube of white caulk and not realizing until its time to paint that I used the non-paintable tube. The steps epson listed is what I've done in the past.