repairing an old ornamental gate
Nothing on an old ornamental gate is beyond saving until the rust has eaten through the frame at the hinges, and the first job is probing each joint with a screwdriver. Work done on old leaves in Georgetown, TX and noted at ornamental iron gates georgetown thetaxpayers follows the same order: inspect, mark, cut, weld, refinish.
How is rust assessed?
Surface rust that flakes off with a wire brush is cosmetic. Rust that leaves deep pits, swells the steel in layers or opens a hole through the tube is structural. A screwdriver pressed on the bottom rail and the hinge side tells the story fast, since sound steel rings and rotten steel gives. Where the wall is thin, that section is cut out and replaced, and the rest of the leaf is saved.
What do cracked welds mean?
A hairline crack at a weld, often marked by a rust streak, means the joint has moved. The weld is ground out to bright metal and redone, with a new bead that penetrates both parts. If several welds have cracked, the frame has been racking from sag or a bad hinge, and the cause has to be fixed along with the welds. Otherwise the new welds crack too.
Can bent scrolls be saved?
A bent scroll from a vehicle bump or a fallen limb is often reheated and bent back over a form, then welded at the contact points. A badly kinked bar is replaced with new flat stock bent to the same pattern. Matching the old curve takes a tracing, so the original is photographed and traced before it is cut away.
Are the hinges worn?
Hinges on older gates wear at the pin and at the weld to the post. A loose hinge lets the leaf drop at the latch side and drag on the ground. Replacing the hinges with heavy greased or bushing type units and resetting the leaf corrects most sag. When the post itself has leaned in limestone soil, the post is reset in a new footing and the swing gate is rehung.
Repair or replace?
Repair makes sense when the frame is mostly sound and the damage is local, because rebuilt wrought iron keeps the character of the original. Replacement makes sense when the frame has thinned throughout, the design no longer fits the house or the weight has outgrown the posts. A mixed answer is common, with the original scrolls saved and fitted to a new steel frame.
What does the refinish involve?
The whole leaf is blasted or stripped to bare metal, since paint over old paint hides new rust. Repairs are primed, then the leaf is coated with a zinc primer and finished with powder coat or a good paint. A gate refinished this way commonly lasts many more years than a patch job.