Any Ideas on Restoring the Outside?

[Leah]

Hi Folks,

  I have a good question here...If you take a look at the pics of the outside of our little Aloha, you can see there are a few issues.

#1) It is a blue grey

#2) Rosie is covered in house paint.

  It is a light coat, meaning it is not super thick and in 10 coats. We'd like to take her back to her original glory, the original aluminum. I'm not sure how bad she will look if we get this house paint off of her, or how we are going to do it.

  We did try paint stripper, although it was starting to scratch the aluminum and one little 4x4 area took about 2 hours. THere has got to be a better way of doing this!

  If we can't get the paint off, besides for spending $3,000.00 - $5,000.00 for a new paint job, does anyone have any good suggestions how we can work on her and what would be a good paint to use to doll her up again if the aluminum is horrible?

Thanks so much!

Leah!

[Wade and Lisa Long]

We painted our trailer with Rustolium oil base. It has been on for over a year now and still looks good. First we used a scotch brite pad from top to bottom, then we bought 1 gallon of gloss white and painted the entire trailer. We taped off the windows and tried to roll it on, it didn't work because of the corrigated walls so we added a touch of linseed oil to the paint and brushed it on. The linseed oil eliminates the brush marks. It took two coats. Then my wife decided what other coler she wanted and we taped it off and painted it. You can buy a gallon for around $25,00 and a quart for around $10.00. Its cheap and you can always touch it up year after year. Just about every hardware store has rustolium paint. There is about 20 different colors available. Have fun and be creative! Wade & Lisa Long

[Leah]

Thanks ya'll! I appreciate and value your information & experience! I will read the link you sent and look further into the info on painting her! Thank you! Leah!

[Dale and Lynne Park]

Yes, what Pat said!  We got some advice, we took a chance and it worked out great for us.  Because we have a Class C motorhome, polished aluminum would probably not have been appropriate and is not our personal taste anyway.  If the polished look is what you want it would probably look awesome.  Polished trailers are eyecatching. 

[Jimco_W001]

Leah,After you get the paint off you can polish the bare aluminum.I bet it will look great.

[Leah]

Dale & Lynne,

  Thanks so much for the info...do you think it would work well to paint Rosie that way instead of getting her professionally done? Possibly safer? Thanks so much! Leah!

[Leah]

Ahhh...gotcha! Yea...it's very dull and chalk looking...Sunday I'll get out to Rosie and check it out...do you think a scotch brite would be too abrasive and create roughness on the aluminum? I'd really like to take it back to the aluminum and polish it out if possible...thanks so much!

[Jimco_W001]

Leah,if the paint is hard and glossy its oil base but if its dull and like chalk its water based.

[Leah]

Hi!

  How do I figure out if it is latex...besides scrubbing it?

Thanks so much!

Leah!

[Dale and Lynne Park]

We did the outside of our Dodge Sportsman with Behr Premium Plus Exterior Ultra All-In-One Paint/Primer in the satin finish.  The aluminum had varying degrees of the original paint and no paint at all in some spots.  We did the following - Washed with TSP or the equivalent.  Green-padded all over from top to bottom.  Washed again and rinsed with vinegar then plain water.  Let it dry for about a week in hot weather.  We rolled on the paint with a small low-nap roller.  Two coats and we used Frog Tape to mask off where needed.  We only did the camper portion of the rig, not the cab part which needs to be done by an automotive painter but your trailer should come out fine using this method.  I was told by a couple of friends that repainted their trailer this thought - if your house had aluminum siding, you wouldn't take it to an auto paint shop to get the painting done.  This made sense, we tried it, we had nothing to lose.  We got a great result.  We have been through 2 hot summers and 2 snowy winters and it still looks great. Good luck! 

[Jimco_W001]

Hi Leah,if the house paint is latex (water based) then I would try warm soapy water and a scotch bright pad.Also keeping the paint wet ahead of time should help.