Dip patio table?

Gwynston

We have an aluminium patio table and 6 chairs which aren't very old, but after 2 or 3 winters outside, the paint is chipping and flaking off then in many places.

As the design is kind of a complex criss-cross lattice pattern, I imagine trying to paint them with Hammerite (or similar) is going to be a fiddly job with lots of scope for drips forming from trying to paint in all the 'holes'.

I'm wondering if it's possible to dip-paint it for a better job? The table will come apart in flat sections and the legs could be done individually, but I don't know if anywhere provides such a service, or has a tank big enough.

Anyway, the chairs I suppose will have to be done by brush....

Gwynston

Also,
I've gone over the whole set with a wire brush (plus a wire wheel attached to a drill) and sandpaper to remove any loose/flaky paint to leave what should be a stable surface to re-paint.

I notice that underneath the paint there is a white powdery layer on the aluminum. What's that - a powder coating? Can I paint directly on to that?

jack of all

Can you post up a few pics? I'd say what you're looking for is a powder coat finish, which can be done but the metal has to be fully prepped and clean for this to be a success. Hard to say without pictures but it may prove an uneconomical option, I'm sure others here can advise on cost etc.

Gwynston

jack of all wrote: »

Can you post up a few pics?

Don't have any pics handy, but it would be similar to this:

jack of all wrote: »

the metal has to be fully prepped and clean for this to be a success.

By that, do you mean that ALL paint must be removed? All I've done is clean off the flaky bits. The majority of the covering is still sound and I was going to just paint on top of it. Without sandblasting, it's not coming off anyway.

CJhaughey

The white powder is aluminium corrosion, you need to remove all of it for paint to stick or it will just bubble up underneath.
Sandblasting is really the only way you can successfully remove the corrosion and the remaining paint.
If you are painting bare aluminium you need to use an etch primer first to allow the paint to key to something or it won't hold.
Sandblasting and then follow it up with some etch primer and then 2 good topcoats and a clearcoat for protection.
It won't be cheap I am afraid. I did a set of wheels and the primer +high build primer and topcoat cost about 50 euro for the rattle cans.

Gwynston

OMG :eek: - so I really have to remove all existing paint + corrosion? Is it likely that even underneath what looks like the fairly sound remaing painted surfaces there is corrosion?

So the whole lot needs to be sandblasted, as you suggest? (Then primed, then painted twice.)

Not happy with the supposed poor durability of this product after only 4 years :mad:

What's the point of selling patio furniture that can't survive 3 winters?
It wasn't cheap either.... Too late to return it - we already tried that last year when the first signs of flaking started.

CJhaughey

Yes, unfortunately thats what you must do to get a good finish.
The original finish was probably powdercoat and UV light attacks it over time and causes the issues you describe.
Salt doesn't help.

Its most commonly seen on wheel rims where the corrosion gets under the lacquer and turns into white worms, left for long it actually starts to eat deeper into the metal.
I sympathise with your position as that kind of finish is really hard to clean manually.
There will be patches of good paint with sound metal underneath but in order to be sure the whole lot has to be cleaned off so the corrosion can be removed.
Good luck!

Gwynston

Don't know how it was originally finished. It kind of has a dappled, mixed colour of mainly black, with browny edges - to give it an aged appearance, I guess.

If anything, I'd say that it was prevailing weather rather than UV that's caused the damage. Because the sides and edges which faced the most common prevailing wind/rain direction where we live are where the damage is.

CJhaughey

Gwynston wrote: »

If anything, I'd say that it was prevailing weather rather than UV that's caused the damage. Because the sides and edges which faced the most common prevailing wind/rain direction where we live are where the damage is.

Near the sea?

Gwynston

Not really - we're 10 miles N.E. of Galway city in the countryside.