I have a black interior railing in my house. It was painted (by brush) once with Rustoleum black Painter’s Touch paint. I now have some nicks and scratches on it that need to be fixed up (my kids are pretty abusive). The kids basically walk along the railing running their toys on the balusters and/or top rail.
I’d like to get some tips on:
- application method – I was thinking of disassembling the railing, taking it into the yard, and spraying with a cup sprayer hooked up to my compressor. Pros/cons?
- prime again or not – it was primed once and then painted black. Do I need to prime again or just give it a rough sanding.
- paint type – I was thinking of looking for a black epoxy-based floor paint (if one exists) or at least a porch floor paint.
- is spray paint at this point a viable route – anyone know of a brand of really strong and durable spray paint?
Would Sherwin Williams Superpaint be sprayable in a cup sprayer? Is it hard enough to withstand the abuse of daily “touching”? Would Pro Classic be better?
Any suggestions for another brand or type of paint would be appreciated as well.
Thanks in advance.
Replies
This is the paint from Sherwin Wms. Commercial Division that my fab shop (of rails, steel and iron) is using on some interior pipe rails:
Kem Lustral.
If there's no commercial SW around you, maybe the local residential SW can get some.
The fab shop has been around for over 50 years. I don't think they'd steer me wrong.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Thang,
How about making it easy on yourself with a two-stage plan. For now, sand and spot repair in place with a brush, using the same paint. When the children are mature enough to stop abusing the railing, then do the larger project. My two cents.
Bill
Edit: Inside, no need to prime the repairs.
Edited 9/8/2004 12:38 am ET by Bill
I'm probably going to wait till the railing gets more scuffed up. However, the various scratches are really annoying because the hallway (where the railing is) was recently completely renovated this past summer.
While waiting for the kids to grow up is a good idea, it'll just take too long. One is 3 and the other is 7. It'd be a long few years if I had to wait.
BTW, how come you said that no primer is needed for indoor repairs? I assume you're only talking about spot repairs and not entire repaints.
Since you can easily get the rails off and if you can live without them for a few days I would check into getting them powder coat.
They uses an electrostatic gun to put on a powder and then it goes through an oven to melt it on and fuse it.
Many different types of plastic are used for this.
This is what most lawn furniture and exterior archectural metal work is finished with now days.
Hi Thang
My experience has been that oil enamel touch-ups on steel indoors can be done without primer, that is all. Goes faster, lasts fine. Whole repaints, the primer is best.
Bill