Protecting rusty metal poles with Wattyl Kill Rust products

At the back of our house we have five poles that support two balconies, that are concreted into the ground.

The previous owner had raised the level of the backyard at some point, and buried part of the poles under soil and grass.

When we had a building inspection when purchasing the house, the inspector had advised that the poles were rusting and in need of repair.

I forgot about that until about ten years later when I thought I better do something about it.

I dug around each pole and uncovered it and the rust was very bad.



I planned to protect what was left of the poles and then cover them in concrete and asked on forums whether this was a good idea. Most people suggested I should get them professional cut back and new poles fitted. But I went with the minority who said to treat the rust, paint them in some sort of protective paint and then raise the level of the concrete.

After a little investigation and failed orders for some Rust-o-leum and Eastwood products I settled on the Wattyl Kill Rust system from the local Mitre 10.

The first step was to use a wire brush to remove as much of the rust and flaking metal as I could. I removed a lot but probably should have done more than I did.

Next, I cleaned the poles with mineral turpentine and then applied Rust-Eeter which is a rust converter. This stuff is strong-smelling and goes sticky quite quickly so is best poured into a container a little at a time and have a few brushes ready as they go hard quite quickly.

This turns into a solid black coating and requires twenty-four hours at minimum before applying the Heavy Duty Primer.



The primer also goes sticky and dry pretty quickly so it is good to have a few spare paint brushes ready to go. Lucky I bought about 10 or 20 paint brushes from Aliexpress for this project.



The primer needs to be left for a minimum of four hours before applying the top coat, Epoxy Gloss Enamel. This comes in various colours or can be tinted. Fortunately Brunswick Green is the colour I need and is available off the shelf at Mitre 10.

The top coat goes on much easier. I only needed one paint brush. Maybe Brunswick Green wasn't quite the best match though.



You need to wait a minimum of 16 hours after the first coat before applying the recommended second coat.



I was now able to repair the storm water plumbing.



A week later I started work on concreting. I used cardboard to create a mould for the concrete and as I added concrete I started filling in around the cardboard with soil so the flimsy cardboard would kept its' shape. The cardboard will decompose over time. The result is not pretty but will hopefully do the job of protecting the poles for years to come.