Matching Aluminum Siding

Matching aluminum siding helps you ensure that, even if you need to repair siding, your house is still a uniform color. If you can't match the aluminum siding, repairs or patches might be a different color, and you'll have to take other steps to minimize the impact of aluminum siding repairs.

Challenges to matching aluminum siding.
If you're making repairs or patching your aluminum siding, you'll probably want to match the color of the patch to the original color of your aluminum siding. Your challenges may include finding matching siding, dealing with weathering of the siding or what to do if you can't find the appropriate siding. You'll probably need a combination of potential solutions in order to solve your aluminum siding issues.

Get more of your original siding.
The easiest solution to matching aluminum siding is to get more of your original siding. If you have storage available, you should get extra siding when you first install aluminum siding. That way, you'll have some matching siding on hand when you need to make repairs. If you don't have extra siding, you might be able to contact the store where you originally purchased the siding or the siding manufacturer to get more of your original siding.

Check out custom-order Web sites.
Even if you can't find the right aluminum siding at your local home improvement store, you might be able to get the correct siding on a custom-order Web site. Some Web sites specialize in carrying aluminum siding and have hard-to-find brands. You might get lucky and find a Web site that has an overstock of the brand that you need, or a site that bought discontinued stock when your style was discontinued.

Some custom-order aluminum siding Web sites can do the matching for you and create aluminum siding that matches your house even if they don't have the right brand in stock. Custom-order Web sites might cost more, though, so be prepared to pay extra if you need to custom-order aluminum siding.

Paint your aluminum siding patch.
If you can't get the original siding and you need to use non-matching siding to make a patch or repairs, you can always paint the aluminum siding patch. Even if you do have the correct siding, it might not match your existing siding, as your siding may fade or discolor over time.

In either case, some paint stores and home improvement stores can match your paint to the existing color of your aluminum siding, although it might take a few tries to get an exact match for weathered paint. This is probably your best bet if you need to match aluminum siding.

Paint your entire aluminum siding.
If you can't find the original aluminum siding or can't find the right paint to match your aluminum siding patch, you could always paint all of your aluminum siding so it matches. You may need to paint your aluminum siding periodically anyway, to restore fading colors or powdery paint finishes. If you're planning to paint your siding, it doesn't matter if your repair or replacement siding matches.

You might need a few extra coats to make the color uniform, but painting all of the aluminum simultaneously ensures that your patches match and helps with long-term maintenance of your aluminum siding.