How to paint aluminum soffet with holes

[ba_50]

This soffet is 40 years old, and has some light corrosion. Half the paint is gone in places. The are slots with indents. When I tried to use a smooth roller it filled in some airslots. Would a extra smooth roller work or will it have to be spray painted?

Should I use rust stop and enamel, or combination primer/paint? Latex?

Thanks. Bob

[wvguy]

what is it made of? metal? if it is rusting I would look at a rust inhibiting primer/ rust stop. Then latex topcoat.
Of course it is always best to remove rust first.

[ba_50]

How do you keep the holes from filling with paint? I'm sure enamel was used originally so a primer would have to be used in order to switch to latex. That means two coats and bigger chance to fill in holes.

[HayZee518]

the original paint was probably electrostatic or powder coated then baked. IMO spray painting allows a thinner coating and less hole fill in while accomplishing the problem of continued corrosion protection.

[sam999]

hello all,
Well, it sounds like you have some good answers here. Did you get it taken care of yet?

I am sure it makes a big difference if it is metal or not, but I would say be sure there is no rust on it. I do like to use primer for those situations, and then decide which paint for durability.

[ba_50]

I told the owner it would take a lot of time to do it right and it depended on how good of job she wanted. Since there is corrosion I couldn't guarantee how long it would last.

She decided to just wash it and let that part go for now. Not many people look up anyhow. Thanks.