Stopping Rust on Wrought Iron Gates and Railings

Painted cottage front with flowers in the yard.

Two hours of wire brushing saves two days of repainting, and that exchange holds on every railing and gate near the water. Iron on homes in Signal Hill and Los Cerritos rusts from the inside of a weld outward, as the notes at long beach painting contractor anytime mailer describe, so any repaint of metal in Long Beach, CA starts with the rust and not the color.

Brushing back to sound metal

Blue painted window frames on a white wall.

Flaking scale and bubbled paint come off with a wire brush, a scraper and, on thick rust, a wire wheel on a drill. The target is sound metal or a tight dark layer that will not lift under a thumbnail. Loose edges of old paint are feathered with sanding, and a scuff sand over the sound paint beside them keeps a ridge from showing through the new topcoat.

Converter on the pitted spots

Weathered blue wood wall with peeling paint.

Pits cannot be brushed clean, because rust sits at the bottom of each one. A rust converter brushed into them turns it into a stable black layer that primer can bond to. The converter needs the label time to cure, and it does not replace primer. Where a pit is deep enough to hold water, it is filled with an exterior filler once the converter has set.

Direct to metal primer

A rust inhibiting primer made for metal goes on bare iron the same day it is cleaned, since bare steel starts to flash rust within hours of damp air. Primer is brushed, not sprayed, into joints, scroll work and the underside of rails, where a sprayer misses and where corrosion starts. A second thin primer pass goes onto welds and sharp edges, where paint thins out as it pulls away from the corner.

Two thin topcoats

A gloss or semi gloss oil based enamel, or a modern acrylic enamel made for metal, gives a hard film that sheds salt. Two coats at the label mil thickness hold up far better than one thick coat, which sags and cracks. A small roller covers flat bars, a brush follows the scroll work, and the second coat goes on after the first has fully dried, not just skinned over.

Welds and base plates

Salt water collects at the base plate where a post meets concrete and inside every weld seam. Gaps there are packed with exterior caulk after priming, and the plate is coated on its underside as far as a brush reaches. A gate that is sealed at those points stays clean for years, while one left open shows orange streaks the first wet winter.