How to repair garage door rust? Quick and effective tricks

Do you have a rusty iron door that you need to repair? How to repair garage door rust? This is a very common problem in this type of garage door, even in those expressly made with a rusty appearance as a decorative style. Being outside, they continue to rust more than necessary and in areas that can damage the structure.

How to repair garage door rust?

If you have this problem, don’t miss out on the advice to repair a rusty iron garage door. In this article, we present this task in a few simple steps without being a DIY expert. With the right advice and materials, as well as patience and good humor, you will achieve everything you set your mind to.

You will need:

Sandpaper
Varnish for metal
Foam roller
Adhesive or putty for metals
Chisel

Steps to follow:

Step 1:

Once you have gathered all the materials mentioned above, you can repair the rusted iron garage door. Start by sanding the surface of your iron garage door by making circles with coarse sandpaper and finish the task with a finer one.

The sandpaper for metals is usually black on the sanding part and blue on the backside. To know how to choose the sandpaper according to its thickness, keep in mind that the lowest number indicates coarse sandpaper. The highest number indicates fine sandpaper.

If even with the sandpaper, it is difficult for the rust to go well. You can buy special products to treat rust on iron surfaces, which you will find in DIY and home maintenance stores. Follow the instructions on the container or those indicated in the store to use it correctly.

Step 2:

When you have done this, you can clean your garage door rust until you remove the last traces of dust and dirt. Once clean, now you can apply the metal varnish with a foam roller. Use this special roller to avoid the typical brushstrokes marked and disfigure the garage door’s surface. One tip is to start by varnishing the garage door and then the frame to achieve a much more professional result.

It is better that you start by varnishing the garage door and once it is dry, make the frames. If you did it the other way around and did not wait for the frames to dry completely, you would surely leave marks on them unintentionally.

Step 3:

Finally, to finish repairing a rusty iron garage door, you will have to remove the seal from the iron garage door and place a new one with the adhesive putty. Carry out this step with the help of a chisel, cleaning the remains of grit, and applying the new putty. To apply it, follow the instructions on the container and then allow the product to dry before starting to use the garage door again.

As we promised at the beginning of our article, it is a much easier task to do than you initially imagined. So, take note of all our advice and go ahead and repair your old rusty iron garage door. A task that is within reach of anyone, and best of all, very economical.

More options for repair garage door rust

Distinguished for their irrefutable strength and ornamental features, metal gates add security to residential and commercial properties.

Instructions

Scrub loose rust off the garage door using a wire brush. Separate as many rust flakes as possible.
Apply naval jelly liberally on the remaining mold with a disposable brush. Completely coat the rusted part of the garage door with naval jelly. Wear protective goggles and durable rubber gloves when handling naval jelly to prevent the chemicals in the product from burning.
Wait 30 minutes for the naval jelly to completely dissolve the oxide left on the garage door.
Rinse the garage door with water to wash off the naval jelly. Don’t leave any naval jelly on the garage door.
Rub medium-grade sandpaper on the affected area to smooth the metal and remove rust particles not dissolving the naval jelly.
Moisten clean, fine-grade steel wool with mineral spirits using rubber gloves. Scrub the pad on the metal to clean grease, dirt, and anything else to stop the primer and paint from adhering to the garage door.
Rinse the garage door well with clean water. I dry the exposed metal with a clean towel.
Spray a smooth coat of alkyd primer oxidation inhibitor on exposed metal immediately after rust removal. Let the alkyd oxide inhibitor primer air dry according to its instruction label.
Apply 2 separate finished coats of alkyd enamel paint over Dry Alkyd Inhibitor Mold Primer with a paintbrush. Allow each coat of alkyd paint to air dry separately according to its instruction label.

Although low maintenance, metal garage doors require regular maintenance to retain their structural integrity. Steel and iron garage doors are highly susceptible to rust. It forms when small scratches are made on the top layer of garage doors in contact with carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water. Rust aesthetically marring metal garage doors with a reddish, flaky tint and spreads quickly. Promptly repair rusty metal garage doors to prevent further damage.

You may also like to read, An introduction to garage door opening mechanisms