By Gene and Katie Hamilton

Vinyl siding was created to withstand the elements and not require painting, but there’s plenty of old vinyl out there that could use a new topcoat finish. The key to painting vinyl siding is to use a good quality, acrylic latex exterior paint that will be flexible and withstand climate changes, and still provides a good bond to the vinyl siding. A water-based acrylic exterior paint is a good choice because it goes on easily and has leveling properties, so it adheres to both smooth and textured surfaces. And latex paint makes cleaning up brushes and rollers easy. Here's a link to Sherwin-Williams which has a paint formulated for vinyl siding: VinylSafe and How to Paint Your House's Exterior.

A painting contractor will charge $2,228, which includes labor and material, to prepare, wash and paint a 1,400-square feet of siding. That preparation is extensive, including cleaning the siding with a pressure washer to thoroughly remove debris and dead bugs, and then washing the surface to remove all mildew, mold and tree sap. When it’s dry, the paint goes on.

You can do the job for $250, the cost of the paint and cleaning supplies. If you don’t own a power washer, budget about $75 a day to rent one. This is a labor-intensive project that will take a homeowner working alone a good 37 hours from start to finish. But you’ll enjoy the good-looking results for a long time to come!

Is this too big of a job to tackle yourself? You can find a painting contractor who has the skills and tools to do it right. Click here to get to Home Advisor and it will open in a new tab and you’ll have to answer some basic questions about your job followed by contractors in your area to do the job.

The bottom line: compare the price of a contractor’s bid to paint vinyl siding with what it costs to do it yourself and make your decision. You adjust the cost to where you live by adding your ZIP Code.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2019

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.