# Wrought Iron Railings



## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

I'm assuming thats what these are. We've all had to grudgingly paint them.
I haven't done one in a long time, but usualy just run a scraper or wire brush across it to knock off the surface rust and put another coat of tremclad on it.
Completely removing all the rust would be futile. Is this still the norm for these railings? Theres no way shes going to pay for sand blasting it or whatever would be the super proper way to do this..


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## diT (Jul 24, 2019)

Drill gun with wire wheel or wire brush, lightly sand, spot prime with rust inhibitive red oxide primer.
Probably use a mini roller with 1/4 in nap.
That'd be my approach.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

They may be mild steel not wrought iron. That's why they're rusting. No way to abrasive blast that without requiring time consuming containment and equipment set up and clean up. I would tool or hand prep per SP 3 and or 11. 

A superior service coating system would be epoxy primer coated with a polyurethane conversion coating. A single component waterborne primer and acrylic finish would be good, or a DTM like PPG Pitt Tech Plus would work but not be as good in service as an epoxy system.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Nightmares!*



finishesbykevyn said:


> I'm assuming thats what these are. We've all had to grudgingly paint them.
> I haven't done one in a long time, but usualy just run a scraper or wire brush across it to knock off the surface rust and put another coat of tremclad on it.
> Completely removing all the rust would be futile. Is this still the norm for these railings? Theres no way shes going to pay for sand blasting it or whatever would be the super proper way to do this..


This brings back nightmares of doing the railings and metal balcony divider between 2 units at a hi rise condo bldg, leaving me with 1 1/2 balconies of railings.

I tried all kinds of scraping tools (I have almost every carbide blade hand scraper that I have come across) as well as a polisher with sand paper disc to a 4 1/2 grinder. I clipped my finger with the grinder. That was interesting.

I had to follow the buildings protocol which meant that I had to use a powdered aluminum based primer (which could have been used as a finish coat), 

https://protective.sherwin-williams.com/detail.jsp?A=sku-26103:product-6814

followed by a black SW paint which I believe is the following:

https://protective.sherwin-williams.com/detail.jsp?A=sku-26099:product-6810

I started scraping in the fall of 2017 and had to resume in the spring of 2018. Also, because of the requirements of the 2 SW products, I had to "re-tool" whatever I had scraped the year before as the Mio-Aluminum primer had to be applied the same day as when the tooling was done! This meant that I had to first finish scraping what I had not yet scraped in 2017, then re-scrape/re-tool everything else the same day as I primed whatever I had rescraped/retooled. This meant that I had to have everything somewhat ready to prime, scrape what I could also prime the same day, and do this until everything was primed. The primer (125.00 a gallon) had a 7 day life once the can was opened (the primer and paint also had an on-the-shelf life of about 1 year), so I had to make sure I did all sections within 7 days. I think it took me about 3 days or so to prime it according to the directions.

Once the priming was done it was time to paint (also about 125.00 per gallon). If I should have worn a mask while I applied the primer, I definately should have used one while applying the paint! Luckily, I was 25 stories up and there was plenty of fresh air.

I also got some helpful advice from the building engineer who also did this kind of work. 

I initially gave the owner a guestimate of what it would cost I don't want to say what I charged, but it was by the hour and slightly more than I normally charge. I kept a running log of my hours on the kitchen table so the owner could see what I was doing. The final bill came to about 3 times what I thought it would, and that was with a 900.00 credit for labor in 2017! I would never want to do a job like this again even though I made good money doing it.

All that being said, I did look into how to prep, prime and pint metal (wrought iron or soft steel) railings. I was looking into chemicals that could be applied over light rust that would convert the rust from iron oxide to a stabile oxide that would both be black and serve as a primer for a top coat of appropriate paint. If I were going to do a job like this, I would look into what I just said in this paragraph.

futtyos


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

Railings are railings, scrape, sand, and whiz a coat of paint or two on em! This ain't rocket surgery, people.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Complex*



Brushman4 said:


> Railings are railings, scrape, sand, and whiz a coat of paint or two on em! This ain't rocket surgery, people.


Maybe not, but it is brain science.

futtyos


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## Brushman4 (Oct 18, 2014)

futtyos said:


> Maybe not, but it is brain science.
> 
> futtyos


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## Holland (Feb 18, 2011)

finishesbykevyn said:


> I'm assuming thats what these are. We've all had to grudgingly paint them.
> I haven't done one in a long time, but usualy just run a scraper or wire brush across it to knock off the surface rust and put another coat of tremclad on it.
> Completely removing all the rust would be futile. Is this still the norm for these railings? Theres no way shes going to pay for sand blasting it or whatever would be the super proper way to do this..


I don't think wire brushes are especially useful on railings. 

scrape the bumpy rust spots. 
Sand any surface rust. 
contour sanding sponge on everything else. 
Rust inhibiting primer on rusty spots. 
paint.


https://www.amazon.com/3M-Contour-4...ng+sponge&qid=1569884581&s=industrial&sr=1-26


.


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## Lightningboy65 (Mar 12, 2018)

Holland said:


> I don't think wire brushes are especially useful on railings.
> 
> .


A wire brush on a drill can be a pretty handy implement when doing railings. In fact, it's my prefered prep tool for such railings. A hand held wire brush less so. I'd generally prefer a coarse sanding sponge to a hand held wire brush.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Just put a coat of rustoleum black on them like 99% of the rest of the country does.. Especially if the client wants it done on the cheap.


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

I'd use my cordless Milwaukee grinder and maybe a palm sander for prep.

Apply direct to metal with PPG PSX700 using a mini roller. It's a 2 component epoxy too. One coat. Pot life can vary depending on ouside temperature, from 1.5 hours to 6.5 hours at 50 degrees.
https://www.ppgpmc.com/Products/7546/PSX-700.aspx

For most jobs PPG-Pitt tech DTM is sufficient. Mini roller or HVLP.


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## Lightningboy65 (Mar 12, 2018)

While you may be able to get good one coat coverage on iron rail with black paint, if you have the smallest of holidays rust will show up within weeks. I always 2 coat to be certain all metal is covered. Two speedy coats doesn't take much longer than 1 careful coat, and you are more likely to cover all metal.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

futtyos said:


> This brings back nightmares of doing the railings and metal balcony divider between 2 units at a hi rise condo bldg, leaving me with 1 1/2 balconies of railings.
> 
> I tried all kinds of scraping tools (I have almost every carbide blade hand scraper that I have come across) as well as a polisher with sand paper disc to a 4 1/2 grinder. I clipped my finger with the grinder. That was interesting.
> 
> ...



Those aliphatic urethanes are some of the hottest paints I have ever worked with, certainly single component. If you can only do minimal surface prep V155 works nicely to encapsulate remaining rust, provide a sound surface for the top coat and can be used as a tie coat to existing finishes. Top coat with anything you want.


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

Lightningboy65 said:


> While you may be able to get good one coat coverage on iron rail with black paint, if you have the smallest of holidays rust will show up within weeks. I always 2 coat to be certain all metal is covered. Two speedy coats doesn't take much longer than 1 careful coat, and you are more likely to cover all metal.


Not if you grind off the rust like I suggested. PPG PSX700 is not your typical house paint. It's a very thick industrial epoxy coating.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Mr Smith said:


> Not if you grind off the rust like I suggested. PPG PSX700 is not your typical house paint. It's a very thick industrial epoxy coating.



Great product! Somewhat expensive though. I would prefer to use the two component verses the single because it would be more durable and UV stable in my opinion.


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

CApainter said:


> Great product! Somewhat expensive though. I would prefer to use the two component verses the single because it would be more durable and UV stable in my opinion.


We painted several miles of steel 'sound-wall' posts and it's held up great. Grinded the peeling paint down to the bare metal and applied it without a primer. 

We did rinse it off with their solvent first but it flashed off in minutes.

That stuff is bullet proof. Yes it's pricey but worth it.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Mr Smith said:


> We painted several miles of steel 'sound-wall' posts and it's held up great. Grinded the peeling paint down to the bare metal and applied it without a primer.
> 
> We did rinse it off with their solvent first but it flashed off in minutes.
> 
> That stuff is bullet proof. Yes it's pricey but worth it.



We've used it on several projects. It has a nice hard glossy finish


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## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

Well, they paint Battleship Anchors with psx700. Its gotta be good stuff. I still have a gallon kit of clear my rep comped me. Its probably bad by now though...


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## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

Sidenote: PSX700 also works as dry erase paint, for a far lower cost than the brands labelled as such.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

would only need a quart of it im sure or 2 quarts with the hardner i guess. The good thing about that in the data sheet is that it's rated down to 0 degrees celcius! Which I'm sure it will be around here in no time  Or sorry That's 30 deg. Fahrenheit for you South of the border. 



CApainter said:


> Great product! Somewhat expensive though. I would prefer to use the two component verses the single because it would be more durable and UV stable in my opinion.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

finishesbykevyn said:


> would only need a quart of it im sure or 2 quarts with the hardner i guess. The good thing about that in the data sheet is that it's rated down to 0 degrees celcius! Which I'm sure it will be around here in no time  Or sorry That's 30 deg. Fahrenheit for you South of the border.


I think it's only sold in gallon kit. Thanks for the conversion! we're too ignant to understand cellseeus.


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