Derusting and painting railings and garden gates

Loosen flaking paint and scale rust with a wire brush or scraper first, then sand with P60 to P80 until only firmly bonded paint or bare metal remains. Treat rust in recesses that only the brush can reach with rust converter.

Round bars and decorative parts are best sanded with a strip torn from a sanding roll, wrapped round the bar like a polishing cloth and pulled back and forth. In corners and on weld spots, non-woven abrasive helps because it adapts to any shape.

Feather the transitions from bare metal to old paint with P120 and key everything with P180. Wipe off the dust, degrease and prime the same day – bare metal starts to rust overnight. Outdoors, only work in dry weather and above five degrees.

Many garden gates and railings are hot-dip galvanised. The zinc layer is the rust protection – it must not be sanded away. Only rough up galvanised surfaces with non-woven abrasive until they are evenly matt, then prime with an adhesion primer for zinc. Only sand down to bare metal where rust is already coming through.