Rusting iron handrail

[Algebra]

Painted black iron railing around outdoor porch and steps is rusting at blue stone attachments. Unfortunately installer left circular bathtub around each iron insertion point- so snow sits in there and rain puddles. I’ll scrape and repaint with black Rustoleum but how would you fill each little circular bathtub ( cavity) So this doesn’t happen again? Too big for caulk. Bondo? I would like it to be blue if possible/ unnoticeable. Thanks.

 

[toolmiser]

Would epoxy hold up to exterior use? If so, you could tint it.

 

[The Cobbler]

match the mortar in the tile joints would be about all you can do I think. you're not going to stop that rust on the bottom of the posts .
I might even remove the handrail (cut it off) & weld plates on the bottom and anchor it with tapcons or lag bolts

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

How about Gray ElectricalDuct Seal Putty.

 

[carlaisle]

Get some grout and make your own color to match the stone. Once you have the color as close as you can get it, fill the bathtubs. Mounding it ever so slightly will help with the rusting. If freeze/thaw is a thing where you are you'll probably need to replace it every so often.

 

[CraigStu]

I think I'd give up on color match because it never will, and go w/ a grey grout. Carefully seal it w/ a brush after it sets.

 

[gahrajmahal]

First I would clean off the flaky rust then hit it with Rustoleum Rust Converter. This paint really lasts a long time. I would then procure some post flanges like this or others. Choose something that covers the round hole in the tiles.



You will need to split these to put them on. Then mix up some J B Weld and glue it securely to the post. Let it set, tidy it up and paint black gloss to match your post, then caulk the flange at the base with silicone or other to seal rain from getting in again.

Try this vender for other flanges, https://www.kingmetals.com/

 

[metalmagpie]

Got any leftover blue tiles? Grind them up and use them to tint mortar to fill the cavities.
If that were my problem I'd knock off the loose rust and then use phosphoric acid (Ospho) to convert the rest to iron phosphate and then paint it carefully. I'd probably do that first before I filled the cavities.

Not too many people tile their porches.

I might also consider drilling weep holes at the bottoms of your railing vertical square tubes. It's not easy to do watertight welding so it's very likely that rain water is accumulating in there. A full tube and a hard freeze can split your railings open.

If I had made your railings I would have had them hot-dip galvanized, then coated with an etching primer followed by a topcoat. in your color of choice.

 

[trashmanssd]

i would fill with a clear 2 part epoxy and i would try to leave it just a little higher than the surrounding blue stone

 

[no704]

Clean up and recoat. Fill the bathtub with hot glue??

Better yet fill them with zink. Pretty low melting point and might protect the railing? WAG! Might need to have an electrical path to the steel.

 

[dogdog]

Recently used this concrete fix on windows ledge that have cracked through, pretty big wide crack. Works pretty good. For your situation probably tape up surrounding and apply caulk. Use paint thinner or acetone to smooth out the surface. Don’t get it on any where you don’t want to. It’s almost impossible to remove.

The other option would be tape up surroundings and use a self leveling polyurethane. I used that for expansion joint that is about 3/4 wide and 6” deep. Should work on that too.

Treat those rust first of cause.

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[zendriver]

IMO, You are the only one who is going to notice, that that very small area does not match (which it does not match now)

I'd clean paint the metal and fill with grout.