Maintaining wrought iron railings
Protecting and preserving your railings
Wrought iron railings are used around property perimeters in the form of boundaries, on staircases as balustrades and around verandas to form a balcony guarding. The finish of wrought iron railings can vary from primer painted and gloss finished,galvanized only, galvanized and gloss coated and galvanized with powdercoated finish.
Maintaining wrought iron railings is important to prolong the lifespan of the metal finish chosen, prevent any deterioration and the possible onset of rust and corrosion. Maintenance of most steelwork finishes is simple and effective.
Cleaning your wrought iron railings
Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well it is, your railings will require simple cleaning to help preserve the paint finish and remove any salt, scale, dirt and grime that will gradually eat into the paint and ultimately the steel itself.
Before you start cleaning down the railings, ensure that any damaged or chipped paintwork is removed and/ or sanded down as required. Remove any visible rust with a wire brush.
Once you have prepped your existing railings, or installed new railings the procedure is simple, use a basic combination of water and soap or multisurface cleaner and wipe down the railings methodically with a cloth. Rinse as required and continue to complete the whole railing section.
DioMet recommend cleaning down railings as often as you would your windows, doing so gets you into a regular routine for maintenance and nothing will get missed once you develop the habit.
Painting damaged steel railings
If paintwork is damaged then the area should be sanded, wire-brushed and prepped as above.
Where railings are primer painted, a similar steel primer should be used and allowed to dry prior to adding a matching gloss coat or two however where railings have been galvanized, a zinc rich primer or ‘galvafroid’ paint solution should be used. The powdercoated finish should be rectified with a matching RAL colour aerosol- for the best results apply several light coats and then once dry, apply T-cut or similar to blend in the finish.
Following the very basic, cost-effective maintenance solutions as described above can avoid costly replacements and worn looking wrought iron railings for years to come. The highest resistance to weathering would always be to ensure that railings are galvanized finish if your budget allows as this will provide over 25years protection.
Further Reading :
Metal staircases and handrails
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