Is there an easy fix for the rusty iron railing around our porch?

Michele Malone
by Michele Malone
We have a white iron railing and columns around our porch that is rusted and has flaking paint. Short of replacing (which is beyond our budget), what can I do?

  7 answers
  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Jun 19, 2018

    As long as they are not rusted through, remove the rust, clean,prime with a exterior metal primer, allow to dry and paint with exterior paint for metal

  • Rae Rae on Jun 19, 2018

    With a bit of elbow grease you could sand away the rust and paint the railing. It will take a bit of time but well with the time for the improvement you will see. I would probably use a a good paint like a Rustoleum either spray or brush.

  • Chubby58 Chubby58 on Jun 19, 2018

    Start sanding and use a wire brush and putty knife to get all the rust and peeled paint off. Clean well, prime, then paint it. Make sure you get a paint that is for outside metal.

  • Kelly Denoyer Russell Kelly Denoyer Russell on Jun 19, 2018

    wire brush, sand paper to remove all loose paint and repaint with a Rustoleum of Krylon paint. Mostly just labor. Materials pretty cheap.

  • Kelly Denoyer Russell Kelly Denoyer Russell on Jun 19, 2018

    Sorry rustoleum OR krylon

  • Pam Walker Pam Walker on Jun 19, 2018

    Using sand paper, scrub the rust spots off. The paint will naturally come off also. Once done with them, get some Rustoleum spray paint & cover the spots you just sanded. Once that's completely dried, repaint the whole thing with Rustoleum (high humidity & rust prevention) paint & let it completely dry overnight. You could also take this one step further & buy some Clear Coat (spray paint) & give the whole thing a once-over. This will repel moisture & keep the rust from happening again. At least for 3-5 years anyways. Hope this helps. :)

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Jun 19, 2018

    Hi Michele, we are doing this job at the moment ourselves. Use a wire brush to take off all the flaking paint, then rub down to get rid of bits. wipe over to take off dust , then Prime with a rust retardant before using Paint for Metal. - I'm using Hammerite smooth in Uk, but I think in US the make is Rustoleum? It's worth it in the end..