How to paint wrought ironwork on a victorian terrace house balcony?

justaussie

Hi there - so I am having the balcony flooring replaced on my two storey victorian terrace house as unfortunately it had become rotten.  To do this of course they had to take all the wrought iron off.  It occurred to me that maybe while it's off it might be a good opportunity to have it painted - as I suspect it's easier to do when it's off the balony than on.  I have a painter - but I'm not sure he has experience with doing this - so I wanted to ask what is necessary to do this.  The old paint is white and it's ancient but doesn't really look rusty or anything - just old and perhaps dirty and a maybe a bit flaky.  Does he need to sand it all back/off or can he just paint over it after getting any flaky paint off. Thanks for letting me know.  Also - what kind of paint and how many coats would be required and how long would it take to dry. He may know that - but I thought I'd check so I am informed of how it's done. Many thanks.

EricL

Hello @justaussie 

This is the perfect time to renew and refresh the paint on your wrought iron fencing. The general steps will be to sand or grind away all of the old paint and rust spots on the wrought iron. Once all of the paint has been removed you then apply rust converter on its surface. The last two steps will be to prime the surface and finish off with top coat of your choice. I suggest looking at the White Knight Rust Guard System. It is a step-by-step complete system from cleaning, treating, priming and top coat. Plus, it can be tinted to a variety of colours. 

I propose a minimum of two coats for both the primer and the topcoat.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How To Paint Metal 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric