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Railing in question....paint problem

Janet Rutkowski - Friday, March 21, 2008 - 6:28am
Railing in question....paint problem

Hi Everyone,
here's the railing I did a few years ago that supposedly chipping. I can't image that it's as bad as she is making out. We will go there and wire wheel the problem areas , prime + repaint. I'll be curious to see if the offer to compensate us for our time. Live and learn. Janet R.


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mele miller's picture

I'm glad you had a problem

mele miller - Friday, March 21, 2008 - 7:11am

I'm glad you had a problem with this rail..ha ha...because we got a chance to see it. I think I might like it better than the dragonfly railing. It's really pretty. I hope things work out and thanks for the picture.
Mele

I think we will call you the queen of railings


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Will Jones's picture

I'm glad to have seen it too

Will Jones - Friday, March 21, 2008 - 10:11am

I'm glad to have seen it too ! Very nice.
Where I used to work we never shotblasted, or galvanized anything - and although I had the shame of seeing work going rusty, somehow they got away with it.
Now I galvanize just about everything outside, or tell'em that paint isn't magic and will require maintenance - but I should probably get that on my quotes in writing.
Incidentally one good thing I picked up from my previous employers:
I send out two copies of every quote, and ask them to sign and return one copy as my go ahead. That way I have their signature on he same piece of paper as my spec and it's hard for them to claim to have missed/misunderstood something. I don't order any materials until it's done.
It's interesting how many times I think I have the whole job wrapped up verbally, but it goes away at this stage.
I think the straight, decent customers sign happily but a lot of the potential troublemakers back off.
I've had to back to a few jobs in my time - as you say it's interesting to see if they offer to pay or not, If they do, I mostly refuse , but go home cheerful, and if they don't I go back to my penultimate tower of doom and curse their entrails. Or maybe that was a dream..

Will Jones, www.ironwill.org.uk


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Janet Rutkowski's picture

Thanks Will and Melee

Janet Rutkowski - Friday, March 21, 2008 - 8:44pm

Since I've never had any complaints about previous outdoor railings, I will take all this into consideration. How do you have something galvanized and is it costly???? Does the finish look weird? Janet


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Will Jones's picture

Galvanizing

Will Jones - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 5:48am

Hi Janet,
I was a little tentative about getting stuff galvanised at first-being in complete ignorance of the process - but I'm now sold.
Everything I've had done so far has been under 100kgs weight so gets minimum charge of about £100.00. Above that weight I think it's about 70p/kg ..But for that they collect it, and return it within 3 or 4 days normally. It'd cost me more to get something shotblasted.
And after galvanizing, paint is purely cosmetic and I don't have to obsess about it.
But you do have to be careful,
Firstly paint won't stick to freshly galvanized work - you have to either leave it to weather for a month or two, or more practically use a chemical to etch the surface a little(over here "T Wash is the popular stuff) This turns it a dull grey/ black, which will accept paint - also looks pretty good as a finish in itself, especially if you gently rub it here and there to bring up silvery hightlights.
Secondly any threaded components will probably need re tapping , maybe re drilling after galv. You may lose some fine detail, and have to file away the odd blob of zinc.
Any hollow sections in a piece must have adequate openings at either end to let zinc flood in and air vent out.
As they're basically dropping the piece into molten zinc
thin sheet can warp, and welding stresses can also come out to haunt you by making stuff twist and bend a little.
You got to degrease stuff thoroughly before it goes.
And lastly you got to hope the gorillas at the galvanizing yard don't run over it with a forklift truck.( happened to a friend of mine. Like just about everyone you pay to do a job, (except us!) they accept no liability for anything that goes wrong.)
BUT 9 times out of ten everything's fine, and mostly any minor problems I've had have been easily hammered out. And I know there's not going to be any rust problems for the forseeable future.

Will Jones, www.ironwill.org.uk


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Janet Rutkowski's picture

Yikes! but thanks Will

Janet Rutkowski - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 7:00am

Sounds complicated. i will check it out here in NYC. But I have a feeling it's going to be expensive...and waiting for it to cure is the other problem. Usually people are chomping at the bit to get their railings. And I'm slow!!!!
So......Anyway thanks Will.Happy Easter to everyone....
Janet R>


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visitor's picture

Made it sound more

visitor - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 7:47am

Made it sound more complicated than it is!
And the etch is simple and instant.
Happy holidays


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eligius1427's picture

Hi Janet, around here

eligius1427 - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 9:53pm

Hi Janet, around here galvanizing costs around 50 cents per pound. There is usually some clean up, but nothing beats it for protection. The biggest problem is creating a design that works with the vents. I've never heard of the cleaning treatment that Will suggested, but I'm definitely going to look into it. Sounds like it would look pretty cool by itself.

Jake


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lou ricci's picture

janet: nice railing. did you

lou ricci - Saturday, March 29, 2008 - 3:20pm

janet: nice railing. did you undercoat it?if not it may be rusting under the paint.all from a small chip.good luck.if you wire brush you may want to undercoat before painting.i use kilz lou


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