Painting that Metal Racking

Metal racking makes a great storage option for business or home, especially where your storage space is limited. If you buy metal racking new, it's often painted or treated with some sort of chemical to resist corrosion. But used shelving may already have outlived the usefulness of its paint and will start to show signs of rust. What can you? You can paint the shelving with a product specifically designed to slow down the oxidation process that causes rust.

First you'll need to clear the shelving of storage boxes and anything else that might be stacked on it. If you can move the unit outside for this first step, that's a bonus. Next, you need to clean the shelving either with a power washer or sand blaster. You do this because you need to remove any dirt, loose rust, or flakes of paint before adding a new coat of paint. If you have extensive spots of serious rust, you may need to sand these down to the bare metal then clean the shelving unit again.

When your shelving is clean and dry, move it to a place that is out of the elements but still has good ventilation. If you need to use fans in order to vent the fumes, do so. Paint fumes from rust-inhibiting paint are not something to mess around with. And since I mentioned rust-inhibiting paint, you can find it at your local DIY or paint store. Make sure it's specifically designed for metal products, to inhibit rust. You'll need primer plus your colour coat. Use spray paint for the cleanest, smoothest finish, and apply two or three coats in order to build up a thick layer of protection. Once it dries you can put your storage boxes back in complete confidence.