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Properly Prepared Metal Guardrails Should Not Be Rusting In One Year

By
Home Inspector with Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 3380-000723

Properly prepared metal guardrails should not be rusting in one year.

The one year inspection is a very important one as it is the last time a home buyer can have things reworked or repaired or replaced under warranty.

This expensive home had lovely guardrails on the front porch and front stairs.  They were made of heavy, solid steel, welded and fitted together.

Why not protect that beauty from the start with good priming and two coats of paint? 

A well-prepared and well-painted metal guardrail should last a long time without rusting.

Corrosion happens!  And it happens quickly.  If this rail is already rusting one can conclude that it was not prepared, or painted, properly.  Rust is literally eating the metal.

>  What causes rust?  Water and air.

>  What metals rust the quickest?  Magnesium, zinc, aluminum and steel.

>  What is the best way to protect a steel guardrail?  With a rust inhibiting primer, and two coats of good exterior paint.

Metal is inherently unstable, and once refined is trying to get back to its original state, which is stable.  Active metals, like those listed above react more quickly to air and water and corrode (rust) sooner.  The more stable metals which take longer to corrode include titanium, silver, gold and platinum, but you already knew that.

Paint chemists know how to prolong the inherent corrosion of metal by putting rust inhibitors in the primer or paint.  Zinc is a great rust-inhibiting pigment which, when put into primers, chemically alters the metal surface to corrode less easily.

READ THE LABEL!  If the label does not say that the primer contains rust inhibitors, get another one!  Builders should hire subs who know this.  AND OIL-BASED PRIMERS ARE THE BEST SUBSURFACE FOR THE PAINT TO FOLLOW.  I could feel the paint on the guardrail above and know it was not oil based.

My recommendation:  done right things last.  Not done right things do not.  And rust kills quickly!  It will attack metal guardrails like the one in the photo, particularly at the base where it enters the concrete porch or stairs below.  Remember, a rust-inhibiting primer and two coats of good paint and you are good to go, for a long time!

 

 

Posted by

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC  

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.

Office (703) 330-6388   Cell (703) 585-7560

www.jaymarinspect.com


Comments (22)

Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Good morning Jay. Just as much labor involved to do it right as there is in the short-cut in the long run, maybe less! Enjoy your day!

Oct 14, 2016 10:53 PM
Sandy Padula & Norm Padula, JD, GRI
HomeSmart Realty West & Florida Realty Investments - , CA
Presence, Persistence & Perseverance

Jay Markanich Painting with standard paints should not have been the choice, but powder coating should have been required. It will be interesting to see how this is resolved.

Oct 14, 2016 11:19 PM
Fred Hernden, CMI
Superior Home Inspections - Greater Albuquerque Area - Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque area Master Inspector

Read the label? You are talking about those 7-11 sub contractors right? 

Oct 15, 2016 12:27 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Air and water are life's essentials but for metals they can be the source of faiure.  Oxidation can and will occur on any metal that is not properly protected

Oct 15, 2016 01:42 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Michelle - the listing agent told me she brought this up with the builder who told her it was normal and okay!  Ummm...

Pat - some one year inspections need to be done before the 11th month!   Beware.

Wayne - and such a pretty rail.  Too bad it was mistreated.

S&N - I will not find out!  My client backed out of the deal due to other reasons.

 

Oct 15, 2016 09:52 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Fred - scholars every one.  And 7-11 Construction is very prevalent around here.

Ed - word!  Then he folds his arms across his chest, grunts HUH and says, "I'm done."

Oct 15, 2016 09:54 AM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@Properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Hi, Jay!  I included this post in today's Last Week's Favorites on ActiveRain.  Thanks for writing it, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Oct 16, 2016 05:18 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Thanks Pat!  That was an informational blog, with lots of information.

Oct 16, 2016 05:40 AM
Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED
RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Nice inclusion in Pat's weekend update.  Seems like a piss poor paint job.  

Oct 16, 2016 06:08 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Carla - a one coat slop job!  With the wrong paint, to boot!

Oct 16, 2016 06:10 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

Looks like a builder grade job.  So many metal railings in our neighborhood are rusting.  Now I know why.

Oct 16, 2016 08:31 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Water and air, Chris Ann, water and air.

Plus a lousy paint job...

Oct 16, 2016 08:42 AM
Sam Shueh
(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA
mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

Airborne Salinity or salt can accelerate the corrossion.  Sailors scrub deck carefully and apply rust inhibitor and coats of sealed paint will last way longer. 

Oct 16, 2016 12:18 PM
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Good evening Jay Markanich ,

So glad Patricia Kennedy selected your post in her "Ah-ha" moments for the week. I missed this post and learned something! Thanks!!

Oct 16, 2016 12:22 PM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

Thanks for the information.  I see a lot of rusting handrails when I am out showing homes.

Oct 16, 2016 01:24 PM
Praful Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
Andover, MA: Andover Luxury Homes For Sale

Jay Markanich indeed, it's a bit too quick for rusting to start. Thanks for sharing simple solution to that problem.

Oct 16, 2016 02:43 PM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

Yes, things done correctly will last a lot longer than those done cheaply. 

Oct 16, 2016 09:32 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Sam - military vessels are painted with multiple coats of lead-based paint which is extremely anti-oxidant.

Dorie - I try to make my posts very informative, and hopefully they all are!

Joan - hopefully they aren't all one year old!

Praful - if people would read the labels when they purchase and apply paints they would have the solutions provided by the manufacturers!

Kat - treated right most things last longer - appliances, motors and mechanisms, chemisty and human bodies!

 

Oct 16, 2016 09:41 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

This sort of issue really becomes a big problem along our coastline because of all the moisture and salt air. Homeowners can learn alot from this post, Jay! Thanks!

Jeff

Oct 17, 2016 12:42 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Salt increases the instability of unstable metals, Jeff, making them oxidize quicker.  No really, it's true!

I know you know that...

Oct 17, 2016 03:59 AM