This weekend I'm going to start painting the fiber cement siding I just finished installing. I want to mask off the new aluminum soffit using the painter's tape that has an adhesive on just part of it. My question is: how long can I leave it on before I have a problem with it leaving a residue on the aluminum. Or is there a better way of masking this off?

Don't know if it matters, but am using Sherwin Williams A100 acrylic latex.

Bruce

 

With any tape, pull it as soon as you are finished. That way you will see if any paint wicked underneath and avoid the tape sticking too much.

Better way? Tape works about as well as anything.

Hope this helps.

 

Taking tape off right away works best if you are using one coat. If you are doing 2 coats and you try to take the tape off right away you will pull up the already dry first coat and have a tape disaster on your hands. If you do 2 coats I would wait for the paint to dry over night then run a SHARP razor blade along the edge of the paint and tape and gently pull. Any paint that wicked under the tape can easily be picked off or scraped off gently with the edge of the blade since the paint will not have been close to curing. Good luck.

 

If you wait until it dries overnight, you will have a problem.

Best is to not mask off at all. Get a high quality brush for the type of paint you are using. Then use proper technique and you will be fine. A rag will quickly wipe paint off the al. soffits.

 

I agree Bob that doing everything "freehand" is the best course of action. However this technique is one that has the potential to be a mess and have more time spent touching up later on especialy for someone who already stated that he "wants to MASK off the new aluminum soffit". This would lead me to believe that this is the best course of action that he sees fit. And as chfite stated..."Tape works about as well as anything." I am curious as to why you say waiting overnight to remove tape would lead to problems? Especially if a razor blade is used to aid in removing. I am not chalenging your opinion so please do not interpret it this way. I have just been painting semi-professionaly for a bit now and always like to hear about other peoples experiences.

 

The sooner you pull the tape, the less likely it is to be caught in the film when it dries. I don't use tape much except outdoors, but I pull it as soon as possible. I prefer to use a shield. No adhesive involved. It's not as if tape were all that expensive. anyway.

If you wait overnight, the adhesive starts to get stiff and the tape becomes difficult to remove and may damage the surface underneath. With the exception of the blue painter's tape, I recall that the recommendation is not to leave it for more than an hour.

Of course, everyone has different experiences.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Been thinking about this for a while now; the reason I thought about masking was that the siding has some texture to it (its the fiber cement siding with a wood grain texture on the face) and I was afraid it may be difficult to pull a sharp line at the soffit. I've always "free-handed" it around interior trim, but that was always a smooth surface.

Maybe it's time to do a little experimenting. I think I'll try it both ways (with and without masking) and see which works best. I also intend to pull off the tape right away and remask for the second coat. Heck, tape is cheap.

Chfite: what do you use for a shield? I tried that once and had a lot of trouble with paint bleeding between the shield (a drywall knife) and the wall or getting on the backside of the shield and transfering to the trim.

If it doesn't rain this weekend, I'll let all know which worked best for me.

Bruce

 

Try both methods, free-hand and tape, but I think free hand is the best way. Might take longer to do, but once finished, you will be a pro with a brush

 

Even masking off can create a mess. Freehand has the potential for a real mess only if the painter is very careless. In this case, it won't be much of a problem because the paint should easily wipe off the soffit. There shouldn't be any touching up in this situation.

Over the years I've learned that many people want to do something a certain way because thats all they know, thats what they've been told, or they underestimate their own abilities. My experience has also been that masking off takes me much longer than going freehand, doesn't make the job any easier, and doesn't add to the quality of the job. Education is part of what we do here.

As for the tape issue - chfite responded very well.

 

I agree Bob, this is a place for education. This is why I stated earlier what to do if one wanted to mask and do 2 coats. Re-masking an area in my opinion is time wasted and could prove to be a huge pain. Again I will reiterate that "freehand" is of course the best method. I never use tape because I think it is more of a pain than cutting in. However the original post said he was going to tape and wanted advice on what would work best. I gave him what I thought would work best IF he was indeed taping. If anyone is going to tape always buy a quality masking tape like the blue tape. I recommend the 3M brand. I avoid the Duck brand as it does not seen to prevent paint from wicking underneath as well as 3M. This will alleviate the tape residue issue and the this tape does not get "stiff". The name of the game when it comes to painting is quality paint and quality supplies, as well as a lot of patience......and a sharp razor blade won't hurt

 

Bruce H


Shields and tape just keep the errant paint off of unintended surfaces. They don't do such a good job of controlling inaccurately applied paint. A misplaced gob of paint needs to be wiped up. I use the curved plastic shields over the carpet when painting baseboards. That way a stray brush bristle does not cause trouble, and a bead forming at the bottom of the base can be wiped off without getting on the carpet. With these, the edge of the shield is not against anything for the paint to wick under. This works better than tape, because I find it hard to get the tape under the baseboard over the carpet. I use a spray shield outdoors and tape holding paper in place.

As Evan M. said, use the good tape. The cheap stuff is a heartbreaker.

Hope this helps.

 

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I started painting yesterday and freehand is, without doubt, the best and easiest way. Even with the textured surface on the siding I had absolutely no problem pulling a nice clean line at the soffits. Thanks for all the input.

Bruce

 

Thanks for letting us know how it went.