Painting a Steel Barrier.

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George7941

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I just welded up a steel barrier, out of angle iron, to be mounted on the wall of a house which backs up against an alley. Trucks going by have been damaging the eavestrough and duct work of the house. I am going to wirebrush the angle iron, spray grey primer from a rattle can and then spray grey paint over it, again from a rattle can.

Would I get better protection if I brushed the paint on?
 
If you are wanting long term protection and durability, I would spray it two coats (or more) with an epoxy primer. Then depending on how much you care about looks and UV protection you could follow that with a top coat of your finish color.
 
Yes, get some rust paint so it will hold up. Wipe it with a solvent before you paint. I actually did one of these last year to protect the electrical service of a house. If it's brick make sure your holes are nice and clean, some of the holes I drilled got a little oversized and the anchors pulled out. The bit I was using was probably worn out.

I started using Ospho for etching and am happy with the results, it really seems to slow the rust down.
 
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So, now you'll have to replace/repaint this contraption AND whatever the trucks damage? Maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't make much sense to me.

Even if it does protect your structure, if it's going to be damaged, the paint job doesn't matter much.
 
a few years back I painted an old rusty Jetski trailer with Rustoleum "hammered" paint. It purposely makes a mottled finish to hide flaws in the surface. All I did was knock off the loose rust and paint. The paint of very thick and I rolled it on. Its amazing, looks great 4 years on .....stored in my back yard.
 
Originally Posted by Cressida
If you are wanting long term protection and durability, I would spray it two coats (or more) with an epoxy primer. Then depending on how much you care about looks and UV protection you could follow that with a top coat of your finish color.


I've been around here long enough to know that reason has little chance against the entrenched US consumer "buy stuff" fetish, but REALLY?

This is an angle-iron barrier. As I read it, it has little inherent value, doesn't have to look pretty or colour match anything, and any finish applied is quite likely to get damaged.

The treatment I suggest is free (Shee-oot, caiyn't be no daym guid theyn), very easy to apply, very very easy to re-apply, effective, and non-toxic.

You can apply it with your bare hands, (you'll have to wash them afterwards), No brush or spray equipment (or its cleaning) or respiratory protection involved at any time.

Those characteristics are hard to beat. I'm VERY confident you can't beat them with a sprayed epoxy.

I've used that Hammerite stuff (admittedly on a boat trailer, which is a high threat application) and it is pretty good, but rust does get under it, and then its toughness just gets in the way of re-treatment.
 
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My thought is to just brush it. Use a decent brush with a light touch. It'll be getting nicked and dinged all the time like most barriers so make repairs simple. Also in light of that make sure to paint it bright yellow so that corner is obvious to the rookie truck drivers who are doing your damage. You might want to add a couple diagonal stripes like they use commercially. Just run a couple lines of masking tape and swipe it once the yellow dries. Reflective tape placed the same way helps too.
We have a virtual sea of those things where I used up work. They take a beating and get bathed in salt so never stay pretty very long but hold up as long as the paint stays on. I'd say POR15 but that stuff is fairly pricy and gets knocked off like anything else. Besides POR DOESNT KEEP well at all in the can so it's sort of a waste in most instances. Just strip whatever off with a 4" grinder sporting a wire wheel every X number of years when it starts looking ratty and repaint. Keep it simple and it's easy.
I wouldn't sweat liability either. Trucks bump things constantly. I've only ever seen a couple even stop to look at it once they see what they hit was just a barrier.
 
How strong is the barrier firstly.
Where does it transfer the hit to ?
And If you really didn't want it to be hit, it would be painted as high visibility as is possible.
 
The barrier is fabricated out of 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in x 3/16 angle iron, so it is fairly robust. It will be mounted on the side wall of the house, mounted directly on to the brick wall. The house is at a corner where trucks make a sharp 90 deg turn. Trucks crawl along here, so there is no impact involved. Hopefully they stop once they hear the scraping on the truck body panels.

Deterrence will play a part here. Now they don't care because eavestroughing and duct work are fragile and will not damage the trucks. Once they see the angle iron I expect they will be more careful.
 
Shannow makes a crucial point here. Any impact on the iron will be transmitted to whatever it's attached to.

At first reading this I thought you were speaking of rocks being thrown against the house. If the trucks are actually striking the house then a better solution would be a curb to keep the trucks away from the house structure.

Is there anyway to place a curb or if not that's why you are using the angle iron?

Pictures might be helpful here.
 
Also a well placed security camera. These drivers should be liable for damages. Video would be good evidence.
 
Sounds like this is what you need.

[Linked Image]
 
Already have the bollard, though it is painted black.

It is not my house but the next time I go there I will take a photo. This has to be the smallest house in Toronto. The two car garage on the other side of the alley is bigger than this house.
 
You can see the ductwork and the eavestrough that need protection. At the front the house is set back about three feet, so that enables use of planters to keep the trucks away. The side the house is within six inches of the property line. I can keep the barrier for the ductwork within the six inches but the barrier for the eavestrough will stick out about nine inches. three inches over the property line. Technically illegal, I suppose, but I am not expecting anyone to kick up a fuss over it.

The house looks like it was originally a two car garage. It is nice and cosy inside now. A single guy lives in it now.

100_1142.jpg
 
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