Painting an Iron Fence

 

ROBERT: Yes, I have a wraparound six-foot-high gate around my house.

 

TOM: OK.

 

ROBERT: And I want to paint it – you know, I want to use a – oil-based or water-based; I want to know which one is better to use, you know, to work with that.

 

TOM: Is this like an iron fence?

 

ROBERT: Yes, iron. Yes.

 

TOM: OK, well the first thing you need to do is make sure that you clean it really well and remove any loose, flaky paint. So, in the case of an iron fence, you’re going to want to wire-brush it and even sand it with a real coarse like emery paper to make sure you get as much of that loose stuff off as you can. The next thing I would do is I would prime it and I would use Rust-Oleum right out of the can …

 

ROBERT: OK.

 

TOM: … and let it dry properly. It takes usually under about four hours to dry. But let it dry really well – it’s an oil-based product – and after that, I would use an oil-based Rust-Oleum topcoat. That’s going to give you a good seven or eight years. It takes a lot longer to do the fence that way, with all the prep going into it, but it’s really going to make a difference in the longevity between paint jobs, Robert.

 

ROBERT: OK. Will do. Thank you very much.

 

TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.