Stopping Rust on Iron Hand Rail?

[oldtoyota]

I bought new hand rails for the outside of my house to replace the rusty old ones. Within one month, the *new* ones started to rust.

The rust spots are small and in the tight spot where a vertical rail joins the bottom rail right above the steps.

I emailed the company who installed them. They have not responded. I figure there's got to be something I can do to protect these rails.

ETA: To correct a word. "one" to "ones"

[GuitarStv]

Are they painted?

[Greg]

Bare steel rusts when it comes in contact with moisture or moist air.  So the rusting area is probably not painted, or it's rusting from the inside where it can't be coated.  If you can file, sand or scrape off the rust, you can touch up the spot with paint.  If you leave any rust or can't reach it all, it will likely come back.

[oldtoyota]

Are they painted?

Yes. They do look painted. I thought that would help prevent the rust. I am wondering if they did not do a good job in these crevices.

[oldtoyota]

Bare steel rusts when it comes in contact with moisture or moist air.  So the rusting area is probably not painted, or it's rusting from the inside where it can't be coated.  If you can file, sand or scrape off the rust, you can touch up the spot with paint.  If you leave any rust or can't reach it all, it will likely come back.

Thanks. I will work on that then. Do you have advice for what I can use to sand in a tight crevice? I am thinking I could fold sand paper to get it into the crack. Is that the best way to go about it?

[GuitarStv]

For sanding metal I find that it's easiest to use a metal brush on a rotating tool.  Something like a dremel or an angle grinder with the correct attachment will work much better than sandpaper.  This kind of thing:

[Forcus]

Before you do anything, make sure you understand if there is a warranty or if the installing company is responsible in any way. If you hit it with sandpaper you can forget getting anything covered. It seems to me that the product is defective.

If no recourse you need to understand if the rails are powdercoated or painted. Painted, probably just means you can remove the rust and paint just beyond the affected area, paint with rusty metal primer, and top coat and move on. If powdercoated I'd be a little concerned that they powdercoated over rusty metal or did a poor / rushed job on coating. If so you can expect more problems... might have to get them stripped and refinished. Thus my initial comment :)

[oldtoyota]

Before you do anything, make sure you understand if there is a warranty or if the installing company is responsible in any way. If you hit it with sandpaper you can forget getting anything covered. It seems to me that the product is defective.

If no recourse you need to understand if the rails are powdercoated or painted. Painted, probably just means you can remove the rust and paint just beyond the affected area, paint with rusty metal primer, and top coat and move on. If powdercoated I'd be a little concerned that they powdercoated over rusty metal or did a poor / rushed job on coating. If so you can expect more problems... might have to get them stripped and refinished. Thus my initial comment :)

Okay. I will look for a warranty first. Given that they ignored my email, I have a feeling they are not interested in helping me with it. It's a small company, I think, so I feel like they have less at stake when it comes to working with me on this.

[Nords]

Are they painted?

Yes. They do look painted. I thought that would help prevent the rust. I am wondering if they did not do a good job in these crevices.

A much lazier way to "solve" this problem is to paint them with Loctite's Extend.
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/products/index.pl/s_trmt_extend_spray/overview/Loctite-Extend-Rust-Neutralizer-Spray.htm

It comes in both spray and brush-on liquid.  There's no need to prep or remove the rust; you can just paint right over it.

It looks horrible when it goes on-- a sort of almond-milk color without much texture or flow-- but dries to a black wrought-iron coating that prevents the rust from spreading.  It eventually wears away so you'll need to repaint every few years.  We've been using it on our wrought-iron window railings for over 20 years, and they look fine.

[oldtoyota]

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

The second contact was a charm. After I sent a second email, the contractor said he would put in a work order to get it fixed. I'm glad.