What's the Best Finish for Your Project?

There are several different finishes to choose from for wrought iron projects. The standard finish is primed and painted black. Black is a wonderful color choice because it complements almost all other colors, its classic and it is easily touched up. When you paint your project black, it will blend into the environment. You can also choose a specialty paint color, maybe one that matches the trim of your house or other existing wrought iron designs. If you choose to use a lighter color, like white, the eye is drawn to lighter colors and it will make your iron design stand out and be the focal point.

A patina is lovely and a very popular choice. You can achieve an "Old Worlde" look by having the right patina applied. There are numerous patina hues to choose from, selecting one is a matter of taste and coordinating with your existing color scheme. Patina's can hide the imperfections in the metal and often those imperfections enhance the look of the patina. It's a little harder to touch up patina finishes, but maybe you won't want to because it does add to the aged look.

Another option is to have your metal design powder coated. Powder coating is applied to metalwork to create a hard finish that is tougher than standard paints. The coating is normally applied electro statically and is then cured under heat to allow it to flow and form a skin. There are several benefits to powder coating. Powder coating is more hard-wearing and produces a much thicker coating than standard liquid paints and without running. When an item is powder coated it has fewer appearance differences (flaws) than liquid coated items (which show the direction of brush strokes and imperfections in the metal). Finally, powder coatings release near zero unstable organic compounds and their production waste stream is far less toxic than liquid paints. Another great benefit of powder coating is that many of the color choices have built in UV protection which helps with fading. In many areas, where the sun beats down much of the year, fading is a concern and powder coating your metal design may really help.

When choosing a finish, certain design elements must be taken into consideration to ensure that powder coating is a truly low-maintenance finishing choice for you. When homeowners pay extra money for a powder coat finish (powder coating does cost more because of the method involved and the fact that the product has to be freighted to and from the powder coater’s shop) they are paying to avoid the annoyance of touching up liquid paint for years to come.

Keep in mind, that when welding has to occur in the field, the powder coat finish is unavoidably marred and the welded joints must be touched up with spray powder coat paint. While the painted areas are not all that noticeable they will need to be maintained indefinitely. If you choose a powder coat finish that has a textured look, the touch up paint will be noticed because the texture does not come through in touch up paint.

If your project has a large area of solid steel, like a tall kick plate, then powder coating is a wonderful option. Powder coating is baked on and it lends a smoother look to the solid steel, camouflaging flaws and imperfections, making the steel look smooth and unmarred.

When it comes to metal, there's really no perfect finish.  Metal can be scratched or marred during installation and after.  Those areas have to be touched up in order to maintain the integrity of the finish.  Clients ask me what they can do so that they never have to touch up their architectural metal designs.  I wish I had a solution, but the fact is that metal rusts so just be aware and touch those areas up immediately.  Also, make sure that you keep your wrought iron away from direct water contact, that's imperative!