Painting iron in cold weather

[Naz]

I HATE PAINT !!!

That said, it is sometimes necessary to paint outside items.
I have an order of 10 bird bath support stands that will need to be painted.
Money is an issue so galvanizing or other expensive options are not what I'm looking for.

Here's the problem : It is the middle of January and tempetures are -20 Celcius, my shop (garage) is not heated.

Any suggestions ?

[Timothy Miller]

The paint will take days to dry if it will even dry at that temp. Your best bet is probaly send it out to get powder coated. Take the time you would have been painting and redirect it to other paying work. The only other option I could think of it to find a worm place perhaps in you house and brush paint it but it will be a time waster. Speeking from experince here.

[macbruce]

If you can, bring em into the house, one at a time if need be.......let the iron as well as the paint get as warm as possible inside,then take them outside to spray....fast....Try a test piece.

[Glenn]

Use caution when painting inside.

We know a fellow that was painting the bathroom with regular house paint. A lamp got knocked over and BOOM. He was blown across the bathtub, through the wall, and into the next room, the window was blown out and the bathroom door was blown into the hallway. The fire dept was able to contain the fire to the bathroom, the bedroom, and hallway. He went to the hospital with burns on his body, but the face mask and safety glasses saved his face from being burned.

Spray paint inside during winter is not a good idea. The paint fumes will get on everything as the furnace circulates the air, or the natural air currents move the fumes. Enough fumes and a spark and ,,, well either way the wife will not be happy.

Powder coating can not be fixed if it is chipped or compromised. Once water/moisture gets under the power coat it starts rust and pops off the surrounding powder coat. It then feeds on itself and the rust progresses. To stop it, you have to sandblast it down to bare metal and apply a new finish. Been there, and now use paint.


From the Sherman Williams web site. Yes it is house paint but is good information.

Q: I have heard that painting outside in the fall and spring is not a good idea because of the dampness in the air. I plan on using latex paint. How late or early in the season can I paint and still have long-lasting results? I live in the Midwest.

A:If you need to paint outside with latex paint when temperatures are moving up and down like a yo-yo, I suggest you use one of the latex like Duration, Resilience, or SuperPaint. These products can be applied and will cure at lower temperatures, as low as 35° F. Traditional latex-based paints need temperatures above 60° F to cure properly. Warmer temperatures are needed to allow the latex particles to coalesce, or melt together. That is why the spring and fall can be tricky times to paint outside. A common mistake is to paint when the daytime high temperature gets above 60° F and the nighttime temperatures get much cooler because dew forms on almost everything as soon as the sun goes down. Even though the temperature was OK at the time of application, the paint can stop coalescing. This permits moisture to get into the uncured paint film allowing certain ingredients to come to the surface when the moisture evaporates, causing surface staining and possible adhesion problems.

[Naz]

Thanks for taking the time to answer guys !
I'll ask my client if she can wait for warmer weather or I'll take them to a paint shop and pay to get them painted.

Don't want to take the chance of messing everything up.

[SmoothBore]

Some years ago, I used some 1/4" P&O plate, to fabricate a set of rear fenders for a 4x4 Belarus Tractor.

For reasons I no longer remember, one fender was painted one day, and the other one didn't get paint on it until several days later.

During the interval between the first and second paint application, the temperature dropped about 40 degrees.

The paint on the first fender cured without a hitch, and is still nice and glossy.

And the one that was painted in "single digit" cold temperatures, cured Ok too, ... but has no gloss.

From a functional perspective, the paint on BOTH fenders is holding up nicely.


The paint that I used on the fenders, is one that I like to use on ANYTHING that's going to be outdoors.

It's Valspar's "Tractor Matching" paint, that I get from the local Tractor Supply Company ( TSC ) store.

( I have a Grader Blade that I painted "John Deere" yellow, in 1988, ... it's been outside fo 23 years now, and is still rust free. )


.

[Grundsau]

Macbruce has the right idea.
I've been painting a number of items lately and do it the same way.
Fast, light coats seem to work best for me.

If you do take metal inside to warm up when the temps are really cold, wrap it in a blanket or place it in a storage container.
Then let it normalize to room temperature for a few hours before exposing it to warm, possibly moist indoor air.
It'll prevent condensation from happening.
Sorta like what happens to reading glasses when you come in from the cold.

Allen

[ironwolfforgeca]

Burr my 2 cents Wood Stove warmer

[Naz]

Well I see there area few options here, thanks for all the input.

If I do decide to go ahead and paint I will use a higher quality paint to put all chances on my side.

I contacted my client and she is in no hurry until April-May so I should be able to have a few nice enough days between here and there to do the job.

I'm glad you all took the time to answer as this is a question I have often asked myself.

Thanks !

Naz

[John B]

Quality of paint is not as important as correct preperation.

Most paints these days are "good quality", whether they are suitable for the specific situation or not is a different matter. eg Marine specification paints work better in a coastal situation, does not mean others won't, but they are designed to work in that environment.