Paint for Rusty beams

[bearman68]

Evening all.
I have recently done some steel erecting (well proud of myself for doing this) The new steel in in a raw state, and will clearly rust in the next few weeks, and the existing steelwork has corroded quite badly, and looks a bit of a mess.

Can anyone recommend a durable finish to kill the rust, look OK, be cheap as chips, and can be applied with a shovel, ideally with one coat.

The priorities are in order listed, with the most important being a durable finish, and the least important being the application regime.

Many Thanks.

[B17NNS]

Hammerite?

[bearman68]

Mmmm, always used hammerite in the past, but local sources are saying it 'aint as good as it used to be. Any comments?

[IforB]

Etch prime it and then paint it with a Latex based paint. Then paint what the hell you like over the top.

[CO2000]

red oxide paint, should be way cheaper than hammerite & can roller it on if you wish.

[tbc]

bearman68 said:

Mmmm, always used hammerite in the past, but local sources are saying it 'aint as good as it used to be. Any comments?

i used to sell Hammerite for a living and can tell you that that the quality went down as soon as the EU VOC regs came in around 2010

it was the same consistency but they took a lot of the 'harmful' addictives out of it and instead of getting 6-8 years rust proofing you would get a year befor rust patches appeared

[69 coupe]

Used to use Galvafroid on RSJ/beams when I was a steel fitter.
Galvanised look and galvanic protection. We slapped it on with a brush roller or spray even on very rusty beams.

http://www.tools-paint.com/galvafroid-zinc-rich-co...

[roofer]

Will any fire rating be required?

[bearman68]

No just rust prevention (It's a steel shed).

For the record, have just ordered 2.5l of galvanafroid, so I'll let you know how it looks..

Thanks all

[plug]

Should have two coats of red oxide primer.

[sjj84]

Rustoleom colour combo. No need for primer, paint straight on the rust, comes in a wide range of colours too. Goes on well with a roller.

[CorradoTDI]

Yep - Rust-oleum, fantastic paint!

[69 coupe]

bearman68 said:

No just rust prevention (It's a steel shed).

For the record, have just ordered 2.5l of galvanafroid, so I'll let you know how it looks..

Thanks all

Its all horses for courses really.
Galvafroid will look like grey primer; galvafroid is specified when galvanised steel has been cut and the bare metal need protecting to same levels and abilities as hot dipped galvanised which has great rust protection abilities, you can obviously slap other paints over the top.

As others have said, normally the vast majority of steelwork will be red oxide as its cheap and covers & protects well.

[Spudler]

Unless the steel is internal and on show use red oxide, good enough for steel suppliers the world over.