Painting pipe gates

[PONYPULR]

How does one paint gates. You know, the pipe ones. Do you spray, brush, roll??

[shea'smom]

I use a brush, spraying seems to be too much waste.

[DiablosHalo]

I second with the brush ....

[Jaegermonster]

I had mine powder coated at an auto body shop.

[shea'smom]

do you remember what that cost for what size gate? That sounds like a great idea.

[bludejavu]

I use foam brushes on ours, very few drips and it applies a very smooth coat. We have approx. 50 pipe gates on our farm in various sizes - I am sick of painting pipe gates :winkgrin:! If you have any rust at all, be sure and use a wire brush to scrub it off before painting. We have purchased a few that were powder coated in the past but even powder coat eventually wears off and you have to paint :sigh:.

[equusvilla]

I used a brush ..but even though I used paint specifically for metal, I still have to repaint it every 3 years or so..grrrr... It was powder coated the first time and that lasted about 5 years. The under coat was an awful dark pink color though, so when the powder coating started to peel - it looked really really bad.

[Jaegermonster]

do you remember what that cost for what size gate? That sounds like a great idea.

I had four of the 4' pipe walk thru gates done for the fronts of my stalls, and I think it was about $50 each. I got together with my neighbor who had some gates he wanted done, and as luck would have it we wanted the same color. So they did them all at once and we got a good price. We had enough it made it worth it for him to fire up the thing.
If you have a lot of gates you could probably get a good deal.

[PONYPULR]

Hey, thanks so much for all your input!! I like the foam brush concept!! I also thought I'd try a small roller. Thanks so much again!

[Bluey]

They have painting gloves and that is what we used on our pipe corrals.
The paint goes on very easily with them and a smaller brush to touch up in the tight spots.

We were using silver, aluminum paint, that flows well.

[PONYPULR]

Gloves??!! Hey, that's a great idea! Do you find them at Lowe's or Home Depot??

[Bluey]

We were getting them at the Sherwin Williams store, but I bet any place that sells paining supplies has them.
A regular car washing mit, made out of imitation sheepskin, that sell very cheap everyplace works also, if you use a liner, like some disposable plastic or rubber gloves, so you don't get paint on you.
We have used that in a pinch.
Gloves don't work well on flat surfaces, but are ideal for pipes, better than a brush, that leaves streaks.

[Susan P]

I need to paint a couple of my older gates, thanks for the tips. However I wouldn't spend $50 each on any of them. Mine aren't worth it, they are bent and a new one is just a bit more than $50, I think the first ones I bought cost just over $60. I don't want to haul them someplace either. I don't have anyone to help me around the farm, I'm mostly on my own but the idea of slapping a little paint on it sounds good to me. Maybe some good old Rustoleum would be a good thing.

The last gates I ordered look like aluminum, they are shiny silver in color and haven't rusted. I wonder if I should paint my old gates silver, nah, it would probably look tacky. Maybe just grey will look best. I don't recall reading color choices.

I have a big guy who likes to lean, and he's bent about every gate he has access to.

When I bought those pipe gates they were supposed to be powder coated and they were rusty right away, but it seems that powder coating is the best finish.

[hosspuller]

I painted 6 gates this fall... I used a disposable nitrile glove with an old cotton crew sock over it. The nitrile gloves are resistant to oil based paints. Use a large and long enough sock to give a small wad at the fingers. Just dip the fingers in the paint and rub the gate. The wad is useful to get paint into the corners and when squeezed will flow paint into hard to access spots.

When done for the day, just pull the sock top into your fingers, then pull the glove over the whole sock... The paint soaked sock is nicely wrapped in the inside out glove. Next day, another fresh sock and glove. Cheap enough for a fresh sock for lunch break too!

here's a description of the gloves... :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrile_rubber

[King's Ransom]

Well ... I spray-painted mine with Rustoleum. It was kind of hard on my index finger, as I was pushing the button for a long time (I did 3 gates in one afternoon). But ... I got the cans at the Dollar-Store for $1 each and it didn't cost me more than $10 to do all 3 gates. That was two years ago and they still look brand new. And they did not look so good when I started.

I also spray-painted all of my used t-posts when I re-did the fencing for the paddock. Sprayed them all with black Rustoleum, and put neat little vinyl caps on the tops for safety. It worked great and it was CHEAP and FAST.

[Bluey]

Well ... I spray-painted mine with Rustoleum. It was kind of hard on my index finger, as I was pushing the button for a long time (I did 3 gates in one afternoon). But ... I got the cans at the Dollar-Store for $1 each and it didn't cost me more than $10 to do all 3 gates. That was two years ago and they still look brand new. And they did not look so good when I started.

I also spray-painted all of my used t-posts when I re-did the fencing for the paddock. Sprayed them all with black Rustoleum, and put neat little vinyl caps on the tops for safety. It worked great and it was CHEAP and FAST.

For a few dollars, they sell a paint can gun you snap on the top and it will depress the little thingy without your finger having to get crampy.
We have some of those around, as we also spray gates, saddle racks and other like fence corners with those:

http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5SA-8127&source=froogle&kw=5SA-8127&source=froogle&kw=5SA-8127&source=froogle&kw=5SA-8127

Home Depot, Lowes and Wal Mart all have them.

[PONYPULR]

I have lots of gates, in various stages of rustiness and different colors, most are 16 or better in size!! Lovin' the sock idea!! Beautiful!!

[JSwan]

You can buy tractor enamel at the feed store/co-op and it's easy to apply and lasts a long time.

If you have a problem with rust, you can scrape/sand it if you want and then apply a rust inhibiting primer first. When that is dry you can apply the enamel and the paint will not peel or bubble.


For those people who have goats - lock them up. Goats like to "help" you paint fences and gates. ;)

[ASB Stars]

You can buy tractor enamel at the feed store/co-op and it's easy to apply and lasts a long time.

If you have a problem with rust, you can scrape/sand it if you want and then apply a rust inhibiting primer first. When that is dry you can apply the enamel and the paint will not peel or bubble.


For those people who have goats - lock them up. Goats like to "help" you paint fences and gates. ;)

These are some great ideas- along with the others!

BTW- American Saddlebreds like to help with painting too, and fencing, and filling the tanks, and.... :winkgrin:

[JeanM]

I've painted my gates with a brush and again with spray. Spray goes on much faster and looks better at first, but the ones I did last year are all flaking so I have to do them again -- this time, I'll do it the hard way & hope it lasts longer!

[Frank B]

I've seen small rollers with a groove in the center especially for pipes. Lowe's, or maybe Home Depot?