Antique fence

[rmwcc]

I am on the board of a historic cemetery. We are expanding the cemetery and putting in a new granite post and metal rail fence. The old historic rails are wrought iron which was painted and is now expriencing sigificant rusting. We want to try and match the old rail look with new rails. Someone suggested using corten solid rails and painting them with a flat black paint. The paint would flake off in spots rust would show and the look might end up being the same as our old rails. Does anyone have some advice or suggestions

 

[swall]

I like the idea of Cor-Ten, but, first check and see if the section size you need is available.

 

[EdStainless]

Painting weathering steels is bad news. Where the paint fails you get greatly accelerated corrosion.
If you really want the spotty look I would paint a new fence with a primer that is rust colored and then deliberately not fully cover it with the finish coat. This may take some labor as the spotty finish coat will take manual labor but it could save you a lot of work in the future.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[cloa]

He said wrought iron not weathering steel.

 

[kingnero]

he actually did say weathering steel... (cor-ten is a brand name)

 

[EdStainless]

The original is wrought iron.

The other reason t consider a weathering steel is to try and get similar corrosion resistance to the wrought iron. Mild steel has much lower general corrosion resistance than WI does.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[Metaljon]

I would not use Weathering steels as it will not look hideous. They are not designed for painting. It is possible to achieve this wrought iron rusty look on steel. I believe the technique is called Faux painting. I have done this paint treatment finish on furniture to achieve a natural wrought iron look. The surface of the steel is first primed with a dark colour. The top coat is mixed with iron filing (needs to be stirred regularly). The surface is then treated with a rust converter solution. After desired look is achieved, apply a clear coat to provide protection and maintain natural appearance. This technique needs some practice but gives a very nice wrought iron rusty appearance.

http://www.portolapaints.com/products/pdf-details/wroughtiron.pdf