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J Kelly
 
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Default repainting a wrought iron porch railing

The wrought iron railing on my front steps and porch is getting pretty
rusty and has some paint chipped off. What is the best way to repaint
this? Should I attempt to remove all the old paint, or just get the
loose stuff off and clean up the rusty spots? This is about 30 feet
of railing, so wire brushing the whole thing would take ages. Also,
what type of paint should I use? Rustoleum spray? Or is there
something better. I don't want to repeat this project in a few years,
looking for a permanent solution. The railing has been removed from
the porch to repair the concrete so I can work on it a bit before it
gets reinstalled if that makes any difference on how I should proceed.

Thanks


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SteveB
 
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"J Kelly" wrote in message
...
The wrought iron railing on my front steps and porch is getting pretty
rusty and has some paint chipped off. What is the best way to repaint
this? Should I attempt to remove all the old paint, or just get the
loose stuff off and clean up the rusty spots? This is about 30 feet
of railing, so wire brushing the whole thing would take ages. Also,
what type of paint should I use? Rustoleum spray? Or is there
something better. I don't want to repeat this project in a few years,
looking for a permanent solution. The railing has been removed from
the porch to repair the concrete so I can work on it a bit before it
gets reinstalled if that makes any difference on how I should proceed.

Thanks



Take an ice pick or small screwdriver and press where the rust is. See if
it goes through. If it does, you got other problems. If it doesn't, the
iron is sound, and the paint needs redoing.

More than 50% of a good paintjob is preparation. The nicer and cleaner you
get it, the better the paint sticks. Perhaps you might have someone in your
circle of friends who does handywork and has an electric wire brush that
could touch it up.

If not, you could get one for your drill and do it yourself. I do not
suggest you get a grinder with a wire brush and try it unless you have a lot
of experience with them. They can chew you up faster than a couple of
chipmanzees.

Rustoleum makes good paint. I would get some of those 2 or 3" rollers and
just put it on thick. Spraying will look nicer, but if you put the paint on
thick with a roller, the characteristic look is almost textured. The
thicker it is, the longer it will last.

Just get the rust. The paint that is sticking is a good thing, and it has
that surface sealed. You will just be adding a new coat of color to it.
Pay attention to any decayed spots, or places where square tube has filled
with water and frozen, causing it to split. These should be replaced, as
should anything that is rusted through. It can be replaced in small
sections unless the whole bar is rusted.

A few days ago, I did a neighbor's double gate. Each section 83" wide.
Each having a double rows of "dog bars" on the lower bar. Both bars were
rusted through and through from sprinklers for the last twenty years. But,
sometimes, you can just replace one bar, or one short piece in a bar, and
make an acceptable repair without tossing the whole thing.

Don't futz around with spray cans. You won't get a lot of paint on it
before it runs. A regular sprayer is fine, just do two coats if sprayed.
If it was me, I would roll it heavy.

All of this sounds like work, and it is.

Do it once. Do it right.

Steve (former contractor for awnings and ornamental metal in the State of
Nevada)


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J Kelly
 
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On Tue, 3 May 2005 15:50:46 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:


Do it once. Do it right.


Thanks for the advice, doing it once, and right, is my goal! The
metal seems to be in very good condition, other than some surface rust
in a few places. I honestly wouldn't bother with it if it weren't for
the fact that the thing is sitting in my front yard unattached from
the concrete. I figure now is the time to do it, the contractor that
did the concrete said to take whatever time I need to do it right, and
he'll come back and bolt it down to the new concrete whenever I'm
ready.

  #4   Report Post  
Gideon
 
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My son repainted about 20' of wrought iron railing plus several
8' tall wrought iron ceiling support sections a few years ago
for his Eagle Scout project. I've got a good portable sandblaster,
but a couple of boys using large 120v drills with wire brushes
managed to prep the railing relatively quickly. I'd estimate that
about 25% of the material had to be wire-brushed to remove bad
paint and/or rust. Much more and we would have considered
using the sandblasting equipment.

He got the paints for free from Home Depot (thanks!), but we
would have gone with spray paint even if the cost were coming
out of our pockets. I've found that low cost spray paints work
very well IF you wire brush very well and you spot paint the bare
metal with spray primer.

Rustoleum is a very good product, but relatively expensive, especially
in spray cans. A lot depends upon what sort of trade-offs you are
willing to make. Which is more important - your time or your money?
Spray paint saves time; a brush and roller save money.

If you use spray primer and/or spray paint, be sure to purchase a
couple of the detachable handle and trigger devices. These black
pistol grip devices easily snap on and off of a standard spray paint
can and when you squeeze the trigger then a lever pushes down on
the can's spray button. Two such devices probably cost about $3-$4
and they help prevent finger fatigue and they allow you to get much
better spraying results from cans. The Krylon version is called a
"Snap and Spray Handle".

Good luck,
Gideon

==================

J Kelly wrote in message ...
The wrought iron railing on my front steps and porch is getting pretty
rusty and has some paint chipped off. What is the best way to repaint
this? Should I attempt to remove all the old paint, or just get the
loose stuff off and clean up the rusty spots? This is about 30 feet
of railing, so wire brushing the whole thing would take ages. Also,
what type of paint should I use? Rustoleum spray? Or is there
something better. I don't want to repeat this project in a few years,
looking for a permanent solution. The railing has been removed from
the porch to repair the concrete so I can work on it a bit before it
gets reinstalled if that makes any difference on how I should proceed.

Thanks




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I repainted mine last year. The paint was flaking off massively. I
used a wirew brush attachement to an angle grinder. It worked
reasonably fast, but the wire brush does disintegrate over time so you
need to wear goggles and might need more than one. Then I primed it
with two coats of Rustoleum primer then painted it with 2-3 coats of
Rustoleum Gloss paint. I used a paint brush. It came out great.



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Harry K
 
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J Kelly wrote:
The wrought iron railing on my front steps and porch is getting

pretty
rusty and has some paint chipped off. What is the best way to

repaint
this? Should I attempt to remove all the old paint, or just get the
loose stuff off and clean up the rusty spots? This is about 30 feet
of railing, so wire brushing the whole thing would take ages. Also,
what type of paint should I use? Rustoleum spray? Or is there
something better. I don't want to repeat this project in a few

years,
looking for a permanent solution. The railing has been removed from
the porch to repair the concrete so I can work on it a bit before it
gets reinstalled if that makes any difference on how I should

proceed.

Thanks


This is the kind of job I would just as soon (sooner actually) hire
out. There should be at least one shop that makes things out of
iron/steel in your area. They will have a sandblast shed and a paint
shop. Take it there and have it done professionally.

Harry K

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Art
 
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Check the weld joints to make sure they are all the way around and not just
spot joints with holes to let water in. If the latter, have a new solid
railing made and throw that one away. If it is rusting from moisture on the
inside it is a waste of effort to repair. Like the one the builder put on
my house..... it was garbage.


"J Kelly" wrote in message
...
The wrought iron railing on my front steps and porch is getting pretty
rusty and has some paint chipped off. What is the best way to repaint
this? Should I attempt to remove all the old paint, or just get the
loose stuff off and clean up the rusty spots? This is about 30 feet
of railing, so wire brushing the whole thing would take ages. Also,
what type of paint should I use? Rustoleum spray? Or is there
something better. I don't want to repeat this project in a few years,
looking for a permanent solution. The railing has been removed from
the porch to repair the concrete so I can work on it a bit before it
gets reinstalled if that makes any difference on how I should proceed.

Thanks




  #8   Report Post  
J Kelly
 
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Default

It's been there for nearly 45 years and doesn't look all that bad.
I'm not going to replace it. It will outlast me.

On Wed, 04 May 2005 16:02:15 GMT, "Art"
wrote:

Check the weld joints to make sure they are all the way around and not just
spot joints with holes to let water in. If the latter, have a new solid
railing made and throw that one away. If it is rusting from moisture on the
inside it is a waste of effort to repair. Like the one the builder put on
my house..... it was garbage.


"J Kelly" wrote in message
.. .
The wrought iron railing on my front steps and porch is getting pretty
rusty and has some paint chipped off. What is the best way to repaint
this? Should I attempt to remove all the old paint, or just get the
loose stuff off and clean up the rusty spots? This is about 30 feet
of railing, so wire brushing the whole thing would take ages. Also,
what type of paint should I use? Rustoleum spray? Or is there
something better. I don't want to repeat this project in a few years,
looking for a permanent solution. The railing has been removed from
the porch to repair the concrete so I can work on it a bit before it
gets reinstalled if that makes any difference on how I should proceed.

Thanks




  #9   Report Post  
Hopkins
 
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I agree with all the "preparation is the key" advice. You really need
to work at getting to clean metal.

When I've done this I've gone with top notch oil-based primer and
finish coat, in quarts/gallons. If others have used spray cans and
gotten good results, I won't argue.

And I'd guard against rolling on really heavy coats of paint. If you
want thick paint it's best, I think, to do it in layers, and you want
the wrought iron to still look like wrought iron.

  #10   Report Post  
Hopkins
 
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Just to clarify, when I say "getting to clean metal" I mean the trouble
spots, not the whole thing. As mentioned before, the areas where the
paint is adhering aren't any problem.

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