Metal surfaces recoated with the rust taken out, not painted over.
Shutters, railings, grills and steel fabrications taken back to sound metal, primed for what the metal actually is, and finished in an even coat, with the rust removed rather than sealed under a fresh colour.
- Free site inspection
- Written, itemised quote
- 1-year workmanship warranty
- Same-day callback
At a glance
What's involved in painting a metal surface?
Metal surface painting covers shutters, gates, grills, railings, staircases, ducting and steel fabrications. Metal absorbs nothing, so a coat only holds by mechanical key and primer chemistry. Most of the work is cleaning off oil and road film, taking rust back to bright metal, abrading the surface, then priming to suit mild steel, galvanised sheet or aluminium before the finish coats go on.
When this is the answer, and when it is not.
Sending you to the wrong service wastes your money and our time. This is how to tell.
This is likely right if
- Shutters, gates, grills, railings or steel fabrications are chalky and faded but the metal underneath is still sound
- Surface rust has started at welds, cut edges and bolt heads and you want it removed before it eats into the section
- New fabrication has arrived in workshop primer only and needs a finish coat before it weathers
- You are changing the colour or sheen of metalwork so it matches repainted joinery or a redone facade
Something else comes first if
- The metal has rusted through, pitting, holes, delaminating layers or lost section, which is a welding and plate replacement job before it is a painting job
- The corrosion is on load-bearing steel at columns, base plates, brackets or connections, where a structural engineer should look at it before any coating decision is taken
- Water is reaching the metal from a leaking chajja, parapet or sunshade, trace and stop that first, or the new coat will fail along the same wet line
What the service includes.
Survey of the metal and its coating
We identify the substrate, mild steel, galvanised sheet, aluminium or stainless, test how well the existing coat is still holding, and map where rust has started. The primer and the preparation follow from that, not from a standard list.
Protection and isolation
Glass, glazing beads, mesh, floors and adjacent walls masked, and hinges, locks, guide channels, rollers and shutter gear covered so grit and paint stay out of the mechanism.
Degreasing and cleaning
Metal carries hinge lubricant, hand grease around handles and road film on street-facing shutters. Paint can't key through any of that, so surfaces are washed and solvent-wiped before abrasion starts.
Rust removal and keying
Loose scale, blistered coating and rust taken off with scrapers, wire wheels and abrasive discs down to sound metal, weld spatter and sharp edges ground back, and the whole surface abraded to give the primer something to grip.
Primer matched to the substrate
A different primer for mild steel, for galvanised and for aluminium, with a brushed stripe coat on cut edges, weld lines, bolt heads and the inside faces of angles, where the film always goes thin first.
Finish coats and function check
Applied to the agreed sheen and coat count, then latches, hinges, guide channels and rolling gear operated once the film has hardened, so nothing is stuck or painted shut.
Not included, or quoted separately
- Welding, plate replacement and any fabrication work, metal with holes or lost section needs a fabricator before it needs paint
- Structural assessment of corroded load-bearing steel, columns, base plates or trusses
- Site sandblasting, powder coating and any workshop or oven-baked finish
- Mechanical repair of shutters and gates, springs, bearings, rollers, guide channels, locks and hinges
- Removing and refitting glass, mosquito mesh, grill inserts or glazing beads in order to paint behind them
The sequence.
Inspection and adhesion check
We test the existing coat for adhesion, sound the metal for hidden pitting behind intact paint, and measure. Grills and railings are measured over the developed surface of every member, not by the size of the opening they fill, that's what the quotation is built from.
Specification and sheen approval
The primer system is decided by what the metal is. You decide colour and sheen, seen on a sample of the same metal in daylight, a high gloss on an old shutter shows every dent and every low spot.
Isolate and protect
Masking of glass, mesh, floors and adjacent finishes, mechanisms covered, and access arranged for anything worked at height or from the street side.
Strip, de-rust and prime
Old coating and rust removed to a sound base, the surface degreased and abraded, then primed without leaving it standing, cleaned steel flash-rusts quickly once it is bare, and more so in monsoon humidity.
Apply the finish coats
Brushed, rolled or sprayed to suit the item, with each coat allowed to harden before the next. Recoating enamel too early wrinkles the film, and the only remedy then is to take it back off.
Cure, operate and hand back
We walk the site with you, operate every shutter, gate and window once the coat is hard, close out the touch-up list, and issue the written warranty with its conditions stated.
What moves the price on this job.
We do not publish a rate, because it would change once someone measured your property. These are the variables that decide it.
- Developed surface area of the metalwork, a grill is measured over every member and both faces, not as a flat opening
- Condition of the existing coating, and whether it can be cleaned and overcoated or has to come off entirely
- How far the rust has gone, and whether hand and power tool cleaning will reach it, where it won't, the item has to go out for blasting, which is a separate trade you engage directly and is not part of our scope
- What the metal is, galvanised, aluminium and stainless need degreasing, etching and different primers, which mild steel doesn't
- Access: height, scaffolding, shutters workable only from the road, and whether the premises stay open while we work
- The coating system chosen, enamel or polyurethane, sheen level, coat count, and whether spray application and its masking are involved
Metal surface painting — your questions.
Can you just paint over the rust that's already there?
Not if the coat is meant to hold. Rust is not a stain sitting on the metal, it is the metal turning into something else, and it keeps going under a fresh film using the moisture and oxygen already trapped in it. The new coat then lifts in blisters along the same lines within a season or two. We take rust back to bright metal wherever we can reach it, and say plainly where we can't.
The paint on our galvanised gate peeled off in sheets. Why?
Because ordinary steel primers don't bond to zinc. Galvanised sheet and new fabrication also carry passivation oil from the plant, and aluminium grows an oxide skin again within minutes of being abraded. On any of these the film sits on top instead of keying in, and comes away in one piece when something knocks it. These surfaces need degreasing and either an etch treatment or a primer made for them.
Do you brush metalwork or spray it?
Both, depending on the item and where it stands. Grills, railings and balusters have too many faces and edges for a roller, so brush work with a stripe coat on edges and welds gives better cover. Large flat areas, shutters, flush doors, ducting, gates off their hinges, take spray better and finish smoother. Spray needs far more masking and still air, so on a roadside shutter we usually brush.
When can the shutter or gate be used again?
We tell you at handover, item by item, because it depends on the coating and the weather on the day. Enamel and polyurethane finishes are touch-dry long before they're hard. A shutter rolled up too early sticks lath to lath at the joints, and a gate closed too early prints the latch and hinge marks into the film. Where a shutter must stay in use, we sequence the work so one section is always workable.
Will this stop the rust coming back?
Paint slows corrosion by keeping moisture and oxygen off the steel. It doesn't change the steel. Rust returns first where the film is thinnest or where water sits, cut edges, weld lines, bolt heads, the back of angles and the bottom rail of a gate standing in wet ground. That's why we stripe-coat those areas, and why the honest advice is to inspect them and touch up early rather than wait for a full repaint.
Related services
- Anti-Rust Treatment and Metal CoatingIf corrosion has gone past surface bloom, it has to be dealt with before any finish coat.
- Gate, Grill and Railing PaintingThe same work scoped for gates, grills and railings, where measurement and access differ.
- Enamel PaintingEnamel is the usual finish on metal, what the grades and sheens actually do.
Let us look at your walls first.
Tell us about the property and we will set up a free colour and wall inspection. You get a written, itemised quotation afterwards, with no obligation to go ahead.
- We call you back the same day to get a picture of the property and the surfaces.
- We agree a time and come out for the free inspection.
- You get the written scope and itemised quotation.
- Nothing starts until you approve it.