Restoring Your Metal Fence Might Not Be An Easy Task To Do. Be Smart About It!
There are certain things that you adore and there are certain things that you ignore! When it comes to metal fencing, your metal fence is what your adore and some rust on your metal fence is what you ignore. Does it apply to you? We hope not, but if it does or it doesn’t, continue reading as in this fencing blog post we are going to talk about how to restore your metal fence when times has done its own and corrosion has gotten to your fence and it’s time for your metal fence restoration.
Your metal fence can last for many-many years, even decades, if taken care of. Maintenance, like giving it an occasional wash here and there to get rid of an excessive dirt, dust and plant residues, or fixing it as soon as possible if it does break, will add years to your metal fence. If you are located in high corrosion area, your fencing supplier should have advised you right from the beginning, before fence installation, to get the fencing material that is protected and resistant to corrosion. It would be either galvanized steel, powder coated steel, or in some occasions stainless steel or aluminium fencing.
Metal fence restoration involves several steps. Here are the steps you should be aware of.
1. REMOVING AN OLD PAINT AND ANY RUST ON YOUR METAL FENCE
First thing you have to do is clean your fence. The best way is to give it a simple wash that will wash away any dirt and loose paint on you fence. In some occasions it might even happen that the spot you thought was a rusty spot, was simply just a dirt spot. Make sure you let it dry afterwards. Or you can go over your fence with a damp cloth to wipe away any filth.
After you’ve cleaned your fence there are two ways to proceed, depending if you are trying to get rid of the old paint or the rust.
If this is paint you are trying to remove, act as following:
1. Use the wire brush to access corners and places/holes that are difficult to reach. After that make sure to go over with a damp cloth once again to remove the dirt.
2. Apply a chemical stripper and make sure to give it few coatings. You will see that in fifteen minutes or so the paint will start peeling off.
3. Use the sand paper to get ride of all the paint. If some places are still too stubborn and the paint doesn’t want to come off, then just apply more chemical paint stripper till it comes off. Make sure you will also sand all the holes and corners.
4. Remove all the paint from your metal fence. Use the damp cloth once again to get ride of all the dust and loose paint.
This is how you strip the paint from your metal fence.
When it’s the rust you are fighting against, act as below instead:
1. Similarly to the paint stripping, when removing rust, use the wire brush to scrub away loose rust alongside with an old paint on your metal fence. You can use the drill with the wire wheel when the rust is quite heavy and brushing with the wire brush doesn’t seem to work.
2. Follow up with a coarse-grit sandpaper putting special attention on the rust affected areas. Some heavy rust may require you to use a drill with the wire wheel and sanding it all the way down to the metal.
3. Once you have made sure that you don’t see any more rust, then use a medium-grit sandpaper to go over and sand the metal fence and getting rid of any rust and paint that has remained and making the metal smoother.
4. As a last step use a fine steel wool and go over the entire fence. This will prepare it for the painting.
5. Give it a one last rinse and let it dry.
2. NEUTRALIZING RUST
Once your metal fence is clean of an old paint and rust, it’s time to make sure that the rust has actually been totally neutralized. It’s essential to make sure that every single piece of rust has been removed as rust can spread and soon enough that little spot of rust that was unnoticed will grow larger and larger, and we don’t want that, especially after all the time and effort you put into cleaning the old paint and rust from your metal fence.
Go to your hardware store and ask for a commercial rust neutralizer and do as the instructions on it say. Just use the wire brush and scrub the entire fence with it.
If you don’t want to use any chemicals then there’s another way of getting rid of the final rust on your metal fence. Just make a solution of half lemon juice and half white vinegar. Then go over the entire fence with it and leave it on for about an hour. Then take soapy water and wash your metal fence. And let it dry off.
3. METAL FENCE PRIMER AND PAINT
Once in your hardware store, ask for metal fence primer and paint from the sales guy. You’ll need a rust-inhibiting primer for metal that you’ll apply evenly on your metal fence and will let it dry for at least 4 hours. Using smooth and even strokes, apply two thick coats of rust-resistant paint over the primer. Medium – bristled brush will do.
Now you’ve prepared your metal fence and can finally proceed to painting. Again, make sure your hardware sales guy will advise what paint should you use for your metal fence.
This is how you restore your metal fence. The last step would obviously be the maintenance. Make sure that you give your metal fence a wash couple of times a year, and oil latches and springs. And if you do see some scratches or rusty spots once again, make sure to neutralize them and the easiest way would be to use the lemon juice and vinegar solution.
If your fence is in a condition that there is no way to save it with the above steps, then contact Diamond Fence as we are one of the leading fence suppliers and installers in Melbourne and its surrounding areas.
Give us a call on (03) 9753 4566 , shoot us an email on info@diamondfence.com.au , or just get a FREE online fencing quote.
