When carrying out home maintenance tasks, there’s often no escape from painting metal surfaces. Metal surfaces to paint can include your gate, roof, or if you have any outdoor metal furniture. You will, of course, need metal paint. It’s best to be prepared before actually starting. Heed these tips on what to keep in mind.
Rust is the Enemy
Rust is metal’s number one enemy. Underestimate it and it will, sooner or later, start to take over your metal. Ignored, it will spread to more and more areas eventually eating away at it, leaving holes and causing degradation. Experts and pros know that triumph over rust starts with good prevention and continues on to thorough rust treatment when it arises.
Rust Prevention
Crucial to rust prevention is choosing a primer and topcoat with rust-inhibiting properties. Rust occurs when the metal is exposed to water and oxygen. Good quality paint will be able to form a durable film that prevents the metal from being exposed to factors that lead to rusting. Find a list of Boysen rust-inhibiting metal primers here.
Rust Treatment
Thorough rust treatment is essential when repainting. Before repainting, all traces of rust should be removed. Treating rust is typically carried out by first manually removing the rust and then using a chemical treatment afterward. Rust will only come back or even worsen if you do not do a good enough job of removing or stabilizing it. Find a guide for rust removal here.
Know the Uses of a Metal Etching Solution
Boysen Metal Etching Solution serves more than one purpose when you’re painting metal. First, it’s a metal cleaner. It removes light deposits of mill oil so that metal surfaces are properly conditioned for painting. If you’re working on new metal that’s not pre-painted, it’s recommended that you wipe it with Boysen Metal Etching Solution before applying paint on it.
It’s also a rust converter and is essential to the rust treatment process. Rust converters, such as Boysen Metal Etching Solution, are a type of preparation chemical that reacts with rust to stabilize it and prevent it from spreading. Boysen’s rust treatment guide will be able to tell you how to use it for this purpose. You can learn more about Boysen Metal Etching Solution and its uses here.
Get the Right Topcoat
Boysen has several metal paint products and each has its own set of properties and features. The metal paint topcoat you choose will depend on your project.
For example, for metal roofs, pick from Boysen Roofgard and Boysen Cool Shades. These are water-based metal paints that can also be used on other metal surfaces. But, if you’re painting high-touch surfaces, such as metal stairs, it’s more advisable to go for Boysen Acqua Epoxy, a metal paint product that’s formulated to withstand foot traffic and has excellent abrasion resistance.
Solvent-based paints made for metal surfaces are made to be extra durable as well. One such paint is Boysen Quick Drying Enamel. It can be applied on both metal and wooden surfaces and is a good choice for furniture and cabinets.
Not sure which product suits your project? The Boysen App can help! Get it and head to the Choose Your Paint tool.
If you have questions about painting metal surfaces and metal paint products, feel free to send us an email at ask@myboysen.com. You can also call us at (02) 8363-9738 local 413 to 418 during office hours for a one-on-one consultation.
