Painting a rusted Metal Railing

[Joeiconic]

Looking to tap into the knowledge base here for advice on refinishing and painting a metal railing on my deck that has rust on it. See attached pic. I have already done this on my screen porch last year. It that case I hand sanded, degreased, and primed by rolling on Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer, followed by a coat (or two) of Rustoleum protective enamel. That worked well and it looks great, but this porch has about twice as much railing so I’m looking for shortcuts. Specifically, is there a trustworthy paint and primer in one that can both neutralize the rust AND look good as a final coat? Ideally I would like to light sand it, clean it, and put one coat of paint product on it and be done. Any recommendations?

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[Chris M]

Swap it out for a wood railing?

 

[Fordup]

I have had luck with POR15 but it's not a uv protected top coat and nasty to clean up.

 

[NotBudule]

 

[P. A. Schilke]

You might try Ospho....https://www.ospho.com/

Best,
Phil

 

[Sharky]

remove all the rust, wipe it down with thinner or acetone, let dry.
then paint it or use bed liner on it..

 

[Joeiconic]

thanks all. There are a number of products similar to Ospho and POR15, but a lot of mixed reviews for all of them, which tells me the prep is the most important thing. I guess I’ll end up sanding, priming and painting.

 

[Joeiconic]

remove all the rust, wipe it down with thinner or acetone, let dry.
then paint it or use bed liner on it..

I like the bed liner idea. I have a can of the Rustoleum bedliner that I used for another project. I may have to test a sample area and see what it looks like.

 

[Fordup]

For rusty surfaces I have had best luck sandblasting that gets the oxide from the pores. Sanding just goes over pockets unless you go deep.

 

[Dgc333]

FWIW, the bulkhead to my basement would look like crap every spring. I would spend the better part of a day wire brushing and painting with the damp proof Rustolium every year.

During the late 90's I was restoring my Barracuda and was using POR15 on the floors and trunk. Once cured you could beat on it with a hammer and not damage it. I figured I would give it a try on the bulkhead. I wire brushed it to remove all the loose paint and rust. Used POR metal prep on all the exposed rusted areas then painted it with black POR15. Since it doesn't do well with UV I top coated it with red enamel. That was in 2000 and I have not touched it since.

NOTE: Paint won't stick to cured POR15 even POR15 won't stick to cured POR15. You have a couple of options; 1) use POR primer or, 2) about 3 or 4 hours after applying the POR15 when it is almost dry to the touch you can apply any primer or directly top coat. With my Barracuda I used primer surfacer on the POR15, on my bulkhead I went directly to the top coat. Both have been standing up to the test of time for over 20 years.

 

[Joeiconic]

For rusty surfaces I have had best luck sandblasting that gets the oxide from the pores. Sanding just goes over pockets unless you go deep.

Agreed, that’s why I’m looking into the so-called “neutralizers” in hopes of cutting corners on the sanding.

 

[Joeiconic]

FWIW, the bulkhead to my basement would look like crap every spring. I would spend the better part of a day wire brushing and painting with the damp proof Rustolium every year.

During the late 90's I was restoring my Barracuda and was using POR15 on the floors and trunk. Once cured you could beat on it with a hammer and not damage it. I figured I would give it a try on the bulkhead. I wire brushed it to remove all the loose paint and rust. Used POR metal prep on all the exposed rusted areas then painted it with black POR15. Since it doesn't do well with UV I top coated it with red enamel. That was in 2000 and I have not touched it since.

NOTE: Paint won't stick to cured POR15 even POR15 won't stick to cured POR15. You have a couple of options; 1) use POR primer or, 2) about 3 or 4 hours after applying the POR15 when it is almost dry to the touch you can apply any primer or directly top coat. With my Barracuda I used primer surfacer on the POR15, on my bulkhead I went directly to the top coat. Both have been standing up to the test of time for over 20 years.

POR15 seems like the best product, but Im not sure it’s saving me any steps over what I’ve done before. I’ll have to look into it more. Thx

 

[Fordup]

POR15 seems like the best product, but Im not sure it’s saving me any steps over what I’ve done before. I’ll have to look into it more. Thx

I think POR 15 is the best but go with the instructions fully. Also don't buy too much because once opened it has a short shelf life. Top coat with a good UV protective paint. Wear rubber gloves and safety equipment plus buy plenty of brushes. Not sure if it's shippable to all states anymore with the new VOC codes so check that first.

 

[Jason B]

That POR15 looks like good stuff, but expensive and too much work for what you are doing. A good rust remover such as what Phil suggested or something from the hardware store would be suitable.
Then I, personally, would use Coal Tar Epoxy on it, no primer needed. We build sewer treatment plants, and we roll on CTE after blasting.

 

[Joeiconic]

That POR15 looks like good stuff, but expensive and too much work for what you are doing. A good rust remover such as what Phil suggested or something from the hardware store would be suitable.

Agreed, it’s like oil and air filters, it’s easy to overthink it!

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