Should You Repair or Replace? A Guide to Exterior stairs and railings

Intro

You walked outside this morning and noticed your handrails are pretty wobbly, or your tenants are complaining about the property’s rusty staircase. Best-case scenario: The project only requires a little work. It may need refurbishing or replacing immediately due to safety or property damage concerns. Which one, though? It’s often possible to diagnose the problem independently and perhaps even repair it with a few tools and some DIY skills. Consider this an introduction to the upcoming project.

What’s the scope? (Railing)

For the sake of keeping this an article rather than a book, let’s stick to the more common ailments of exterior metalwork: rust and failing hardware.

Rust

Some jobs are more manageable and cleaner than others, and repairing a rusty handrail won’t be one of them. That’s okay, however. If there isn’t much rust, and you can match the paint reasonably well, you’ll save a decent chunk of change by doing it yourself.

Whether or not you can do this yourself (or repair it at all) is contingent on the severity of the rust and where it’s located. For example, if there are a few spots here and there on the top or sides of the railing where the paint has chipped and rust has “graced” the bare metal surface, it can be sanded down and spot painted. Of course, this won’t look as good as stripping, sandblasting, and refinishing the entire railing. Still, it will take significantly less work and money.

On the other end of the spectrum, let’s say the rust has eaten through any part of the railing or has chewed a big hole in one of the termination points. You’ll either have to cut out the rusted piece completely and weld in a new section of the tube or replace the railing entirely.

Failing Hardware

The most common issue would be concrete or stonework failures such as cracking or chipping, causing the hardware to lose its effect. Failing hardware is sometimes another “You can take care of this yourself” project with a few choice power tools (owned or rented) and little extra know-how as long as the anchoring plates are still in good condition. In some cases, we must extract the failed hardware from the concrete to replace it. This process can be challenging and may require a professional in certain situations. If you end up removing and re-installing your railing: consider powder coating if it isn’t already. Powder coating is a relatively inexpensive process that will increase the life of any metal fabrication.

An Entirely Different Beast (Exterior Staircases)

If you’ve made it this far, you should already know: I wasn’t pretending that lopping off a chunk of your railing or sanding off rust spots would be an easy task, but metal staircases are a different situation altogether.

Rust

Rust on metal staircases is more than likely going to be where water gets trapped for prolonged periods. It will probably be around seams or where the finish is likely to get chipped off, allowing water in. The good news is that if you’ve caught it early enough, you can remedy this issue relatively quickly and inexpensively. You’ll also want to find out why that particular spot was rusting and try to prevent it from happening again. Steps that do not have a slight downward slope do not drain appropriately in rainy conditions, and pool water on the stairs causing premature failure. Sometimes a small hole can be drilled for drainage and can alleviate these issues in the future.

More than likely, you don’t just have a bit of rust. You might have noticeable rust in all the seams and want to take care of it before it’s a real problem. You could also be looking at some parts that have rusted all the way through and know it needs taken care of sooner rather than later; perhaps it’s looking something like this:

That’s not to say all is lost here. You’ll want to be realistic about the scope of work, however. Rust is incredibly invasive and challenging to get rid of entirely. If you don’t, it will continue eroding the metal despite your hard work and a fresh coat of paint (or powder coat) if you don’t get rid of ALL of it. A needle scaler and air compressor is a standard tool used by professionals for removing the scale and flakes of rust. In the example of these photos, you’d still have to replace the railing post closest to the bottom because it is rusting all the way through; you’ll probably need to replace the top landing as well. Now is when a project like this can get tricky. You’ll not only need to replace those pieces, but you’ll want to weld them in to increase the lifespan of the new parts, and again, you’ll have to eliminate all of the surrounding rust before welding the new metal in, or the rust will quickly regain it’s footing on the bare metal. If bubbling is present, it’s a sign of delamination, and it’s a strong indicator that severe corrosion is present.

The first step I would take in either of these endeavors is to estimate the cost to complete the job yourself. It may be challenging to estimate because it relies on the state of the staircase, the design, the tools you have, your skill with those tools, and the knowledge and experience you already possess. Any tools you don’t have will have to be rented or purchased. Depending on how severely the stairs are damaged, it could be most cost-effective to replace them entirely.

How-to guide:

So, after all this, you’re still interested in breathing some old life into your exterior metalwork. That’s cool, and we will help as much as we can.

Here are some things you’ll need:

-Sandpaper

-Instant lead test (all homes pre-1978)

-Wire Brush

-Scraper

-Metal Primer

-Exterior Finishing Paint

-Paintbrushes

-Concrete Anchors (optional)

-Concrete Patch (optional)

-Hammer Drill (optional)

Things that aren’t (strictly speaking) necessary, but you’ll want

-Angle Grinder with Hardwheel and Flap Disc

-Drop Cloths

-Needle Scaler and air compressor (for the stairway, a little overkill for the railing)

First Things First:

Sand gently down to the bare metal in a small spot, then follow the Instant Lead Test instructions. If you’re working with lead paint, this will be a more significant issue. You’ll want to bring your project to a professional who can properly dispose of lead paint.

After That’s Settled:

Lay down your drop cloth and prep your work area.

For diamond plate, stairs, or giant rust bubbles, the needle scaler will be super helpful; otherwise, use the scraper and wire brush for the big chunks.

After the bigger chunks are gone, use sandpaper or an angle grinder to get down to the bare metal.

You’ll want to be sure that you’ve gotten all of the old finish off, as well as all of the rust, before applying the metal primer.

Use a paintbrush or paint roller (whichever you prefer), and let the primer dry. Then paint it with the Exterior Metal Paint. You may want to consider a local powder coater as well. Powder coating companies often guarantee powder coating with zinc primer for up to ten years, but you’ll want to check with your local powder coating company. Removing the railing and bringing it straight to sandblasting/powder coating may be more cost-effective for you.

If your anchors are holding reasonably well, then you may not need this step. If your railing is a little wobbly, you’ll want to get some good concrete anchors, remove the old ones, and re-install your rehabilitated handrail with some good sturdy anchors.

You will, more than likely, want to drill new holes for the new anchors as well and patch the old ones. If you’re doing that, some concrete patch and a hammer drill will be necessary.

Line your railing up where you want it, mark the holes, and drill into the concrete with the hammer drill. Before installing the handrail, fill the old gaps with the concrete fill, and then feel free to install your railing with the new concrete anchors.

Then you’re done! This task is a bit labor-intensive, and we respect the DIY mentality here, really, but call around to your local powder coating places before doing this. It may be more cost-effective to have someone else refinish it for you as long as you can uninstall it and get it there. Otherwise, have fun! Be safe, wear a respirator when you’re peeling or sanding paint, and enjoy your project.