Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

How to prep cast iron downpipes for painting

71 views
Skip to first unread message

noth...@aolbin.com

unread,
Apr 25, 2020, 12:17:12 PM4/25/20
to
I have quite a lot of cast iron downpipes and hoppers that need
painting. They date from the late 1930s and have had quite a few coats
of paint on them. Some are lightly rusting and some of the sockets have
cracks.
Life's too short to strip all the paint so I plan to sand them enough to
get the loose paint off, then to treat the rust with a primer and then
to paint with either a glass paint or the same Sandtext magnolia Trade
masonry paint that the roughcast walls are painted with. Any suggestions
for suitable rust primer/converter?

tabb...@gmail.com

unread,
Apr 25, 2020, 2:36:01 PM4/25/20
to
There's only one treatment you can put on rust then paint directly onto, phosphoric acid. It turns the rust into a stable black coating. Other options all require removal of all rust to work. Fastest way to strip rust off in situ is an angel grinder + wire wheel.


NT

noth...@aolbin.com

unread,
Apr 25, 2020, 5:52:30 PM4/25/20
to
Angle grinder and flap wheel has worked well on the CI gutters, but the
downpipes are trickier. I'd forgotten about phosphoric acid - distant
memories of using lots of it (Jenolite?) on a very dilapidated Ford
Anglia in the early 70s. Thanks.

Roland Perry

unread,
Apr 26, 2020, 3:27:59 AM4/26/20
to
In message <hgjpor...@mid.individual.net>, at 22:52:27 on Sat, 25
Apr 2020, noth...@aolbin.com remarked:
>> There's only one treatment you can put on rust then paint directly
>>onto, phosphoric acid. It turns the rust into a stable black coating.
>>Other options all require removal of all rust to work. Fastest way to
>>strip rust off in situ is an angel grinder + wire wheel.
>> NT
>>
>Angle grinder and flap wheel has worked well on the CI gutters, but the
>downpipes are trickier. I'd forgotten about phosphoric acid - distant
>memories of using lots of it (Jenolite?) on a very dilapidated Ford
>Anglia in the early 70s. Thanks.

Kurust, from Halfords.
--
Roland Perry

Unknown

unread,
Apr 26, 2020, 5:38:32 AM4/26/20
to
noth...@aolbin.com wrote :
> I'd forgotten about phosphoric acid - distant memories of using lots of it
> (Jenolite?)

Which is phosphoric acid, with an added wetting agent.

Andrew

unread,
Apr 26, 2020, 9:00:51 AM4/26/20
to
These days all the previously useful preparations like Kurust have
become water-based and are almost impossible to use on anything
other than a nice horizontal surface with absolutely no traces of
paint or oil.

Working up a ladder applying this stuff is almost impossible without
getting it all over you.

newshound

unread,
Apr 26, 2020, 11:02:26 AM4/26/20
to
On 25/04/2020 19:35, tabb...@gmail.com wrote:


> Fastest way to strip rust off in situ is an angel grinder + wire wheel.
>

+1, you can also use the short pointy ones in an ordinary drill for
re-entrant features around brackets, etc.

polygonum_on_google

unread,
Apr 27, 2020, 7:45:25 AM4/27/20
to
On Saturday, 25 April 2020 17:17:12 UTC+1, noth...@aolbin.com wrote:
I have used this Zinsser paint for other things, including metal with rust visible (but not loose). For my purposes, it worked very well.

The company said (via Screwfix):

Hello
Thank you for your recent enquiry.
Zinsser AllCoat Exterior water based satin paint is suitable to be used directly onto the cast iron gutters (exterior of these only) and downpipes, with no primer required.
Two coats of the AllCoat Exterior paint will be required to be applied by brush or roller at a coverage rate of approximately 10m2/litre, when the air and substrate temperature is 10oC and rising. The second coat of AllCoat may be applied after approximately 1 hour in normal drying conditons.
We recommend to ensure the surface to be painted is clean, dry, sound and free from any surface contamination such as dirt, oils, grease, mould, mildew, rust, loose or flaking paint etc that are likely to affect the performance of any subsequent coats of paint; to ensure this we advise the following prior to painting, clean down with hot soapy water, rinse with warm water and when dry have a good wipe over with methylated spirits to promote good adhesion.
I hope this helps.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/zinsser-all-coat-exterior-paint-black-1ltr/8716g

noth...@aolbin.com

unread,
Apr 27, 2020, 10:34:27 AM4/27/20
to
Thanks!

Jimk

unread,
Apr 28, 2020, 2:08:11 AM4/28/20
to
polygonum_on_google <magpie...@gmail.com> Wrote in message:
They said " free of.....rust"...?
You painted over it?
How long ago?
How is it?

--
Jimk


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

polygonum_on_google

unread,
Apr 28, 2020, 2:42:47 AM4/28/20
to
I removed loose rust - used either wire brush or some abrasive paper. Ended up with some areas which were still rust-colour but not worth it (for me) to carry on until it was perfect.

Then I painted over it.

I think it was three years.

Last I saw, it looked OK.

The biggest item was a sign that was left outside in the day, brought in at night, but was exposed to lots of horrible rain and wind.

I used isopropanol to wipe it down rather than meths.

Perfect finish was not required.

I wish I had some metal guttering and had used it on that. As it is, I can only make a suggestion and report my findings for my use.

What was wonderful was the ease of brush cleaning. As easy as emulsion.
0 new messages