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Historical Steel Home Needs Paint

Lustron Homes originally built for returning WWII veterans

Dear Tom and Leslie,

My question is about my new home.  It is a Lustron home and I am jonesing to decorate.  It is a porcelain enameled steel home that was manufactured from 1948-1950 in Columbus, Ohio to try and help alleviate the housing shortage after WWII.  All the walls, inside and out, beams, roof, ceilings, joists, and studs are all metal. The floors are covered concrete, with vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bathroom and carpet through the rest of the house.  It's a difficult material to paint (I've heard it compared to 1) painting a car, 2) painting a bathtub or 3) painting an appliance.)  I can't really say for sure, but I really, really, really want to change the colors that are here. The kitchen and bathroom are a horrible yellowish brown color, and the rest of the rooms are a grey color. Do you have any suggestions?  Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
Thanks,
Cathy M
Parma, Ohio

Dear Cathy,

Thank you so much for your great question.  Your questions made us do some research on the very interesting history of Lustron Homes. 
 
Lustron Homes were steel ranch style modular homes created to meet a severe housing shortage housing of soldiers returning home from WWII thought up by forward thinker Carl Strandlund.  The enitre structure was made of steel, the framing, interior and exterior walls, roof trusses, roof tiles, and ceiling tiles were made entirely of steel. The interior and exterior walls as well as the roof had a glass finished baked on porcelain finish and your exterior color finish choices were pink, tan, yellow, aqua, blue, green, or grey and the interior color choice were beige or grey.  The Lustron Homes were originally estimated to cost about 6-10K for the homes not including the lot.  They could be manufactured in 400 hours and built onsite of 3000 pieces and in about 300 man hours.  The kitchens featured the Thor washing machine which also was a dishwasher.  Items like that are what made the Lustron homes so amazing everything was designed to make the most efficient use of the house.  Heating was a ceiling mounted oil furnace which would heat the metal ceiling tiles and then radiate through the rest of the house but was a failure and most homes changed it out after completion.  In the end the Lustron Homes cost about $11,000 as compared to a similar size and style wood framed home at $8000.  The company went bankrupt shortly before 1950 and had completed about 2680 Lustron homes in about 18 months.
 
Your question about painting the interior is a good one and I think totally doable if you prep correctly.  First clean the surfaces with a 50/50 solution of water and ammonia to remove any grease or soap that might be on the walls.  Even in rooms other than the kitchen or bath make sure you properly clean the walls.  Dry the surfaces thoroughly and apply Zinssers Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer to make sure your paint adheres properly.  Allow to dry well and paint the top coat with an oil based high quality paint.  You might need 2 coats and if you like you can use an epoxy coat finish after the paint has dried to really seal in the finish and make it super durable.  Be sure not to use harsh abrassive cleaners on the painted surfaces, try a soft scrub type instead. On the surface you are going to keep the original baked on finish you can restore the sheen with automotive paste wax.
 
Happy Decorating and enjoy your sturdy and unusual home!
 
Best,

Tom & Leslie

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