Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Rusted

A reader asked me to show a few pics of the rebar handrail I did for the deck and how it had aged.

I had initially sprayed the whole deck and rebar with a light coat of thinned linseed oil. This lasted for a while but some rust is showing on it now. I need to clean everything this fall, go over the rebar with a wire brush and then respray it all. However, it looks fine; just a bit darker than when new.


I've actually been using the rebar to grow cucumbers and such, as a trellis. It works pretty good.

I have more tomato plants, herbs and flowers all along the railing to the right. With all the green everywhere, everything kinda blends together! But you get the idea. Of course, you can click on any picture to enlarge it and maybe see a little more detail.

I'm still feeling pretty bad so not up to full posting speed yet. Hopefully, I will be back at it again soon. In the mean time, stay cool! or warm, depending on what hemisphere you are in! Is there anything else someone would like to see or ask about the goings on here?

23 comments:

grins said...

There is a product, I think sold by Duluth Trading Post in the Bahamas, just kidding its in Duluth That you can spray on rust and it makes it so it's like metal. Never tried it but Duluth is an awesome sight. Hey! I'd like to get one of your 15.00 coffee mug when I get some xtra cash. how much is the shipping and tax? Oh I fixed up my Barking Mad. I'm about 80 percent happy with it now. Check it out. sent info to dan_gist@yahoo.com If you don't want to post it.

Stephanie Iris said...

The fence looks awesome! My family is BIG into gardens.

Jane in Maine said...

I love seeing the porch and railing-I actually like the rusted look.

MamaHen said...

Hey Dan! I'll check out the Duluth product; thanks!
I'll email you about the mug 'cuz I need your zip code to figure.

Hey Sassy! Welcome to the blog! thanks!

Hey Jane! thanks! I kinda like it too but then I like the dark mill scale color also.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

I have always admired your porch railings. I like that they are aging naturally and gracefully.

This kind of railing would make a sturdy fence around a garden, where a variety of plants could grow on it.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Just showed this post to Grenville - what a great use of rebar for the climbing cukes and zukes. We may scale down the garden even more next year and have talked about some sort of patio setup. Hope you are feeling better and getting rest.

Anonymous said...

What is the height of your railing

MamaHen said...

Hey Anon! It is 39" to the top of the 1x6 cap. 42" may actually be code if you are concerned about that.

Anonymous said...

We did this in our home for our interior stairs and then decided to do the back deck as welk. We sprayed ours with rust textured rustoleum before installing. Love the way it looks! I would post a pic but cant figure out how. Lol

Anonymous said...

Looks great, just wondering how you finished the corners?

MamaHen said...

Hey Anon! If you go to this page, http://edificerex.blogspot.com/search/label/handrails, you can see the whole process and my explanations on the corners. thanks!

Unknown said...

What size rebar is this your using? Does the rusted rebar effect any of the veggies that may grow on it? Looks awesome BTW. Very much thinking of doing this for approx. 550' of fencing, just gotta crunch the cost numbers.

MamaHen said...

Hey Brian! Thanks! the rebar is #5; which is 5/8" stock and the rust does not appear to have any effect on the veggies. They all seem to grow very healthy on it.
You can sometimes buy rebar from scrapyards for a pretty reasonable price, otherwise, buy from an actual rebar supply house. Most will sell to the public. Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. price for rebar is just outrageous. They will totally rip you off.

Unknown said...

I love the use of rebar in this fencing. It's very natural and rustic looking! I've been needing to install something like this for my deck, so I'll definitely be saving this. Thanks for sharing. jtfencingwa.com

jenn said...

This is the loveliet ReBar fence that I've ever seen!!

barb said...

i did something similar to this except the rebar is vertical. i love it! also, i think the rust gives it a more worn look, which i like very much. :)

MamaHen said...

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the comments. :)

Katrina said...

I know I am late to this post but just now ran across it. We are in the process of building a back deck and trying to research all railing options. A friend suggested rebar and after looking around online, there you were. We are also in North Alabama... Florence to be exact. I am afraid the rebar will rust and stain the decking below. I plan to stain the 5/4 boards a med brown so it won't be so bright in the sun. We live in the country but it's not really a very rustic house so this could be a problem. Any thought on this?

MamaHen said...

Hey Katrina! Well, the rebar will rust if left untreated, however, there are several options to keep that from happening. When you buy new rebar it will have a very light oilish coating on it (that's why your hands or gloves will be black after handling it!) You can periodically re-oil it to keep that blackish finish, which looks good on a more contemporary house. Linseed oil mixed 50/50 with beeswax works good for this and is durable.. Many blacksmiths use this finish on their outdoor work. OR. you can clean the rebar after installation and spray it with a heavy duty, exterior grade polyurethane. This may need touching up over the years also but not as often as the oil. I let my rebar rust basically and it has not stained the deck boards, so I don't know that I would worry bout that. You may get some slight darkening of the wood where the rebar passes through the posts, but it's not really noticeable. I hope this info helps!

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOD! I wish there were larger capital letters to show my awe and love of your railing! Im wanting to replace my 52 meter long ugly post and chicken wire farm front fence. Being on a tight budget my best and most cost effective solution was going to be to plant creepers over it. Then i saw this! OMG x 2! I have to have it! I have found rusty rebar at a local recyclers for $4 aud for a 4mt long length. Bargain! I need 55 lengths to do my 52 meters with 5 bars spaced 20cm apart each. For the poles i found some gorgeous rough sawn cypress posts but they are a bit on the expensive side so i might have to save money here by going for treated pine sadly. Or i could use the cypress every second pole and find something cheaper for in between as spacers. Currently im looking online for inspiration for spacers, some rusty iron artwork of some kind would be awesome. Anyway i just wanted to say a big thankyou for posting your beautiful railing online and giving me a solution other than creepers!

Rockster said...

Love your rebar railing. I would have never thought of installing the rebar horizontally. I would like to do the same on my deck. I really just don't understand how the ends of the rebar are connected? Is the end of one rebar threaded into the post and butt against the end of the following rebar within the same post??
Roxanne

MamaHen said...

Hey Jen! Thank you so much and good luck on the completion of your railings! Sounds like they will turn out great!

Hey Roxanne! Yes, the rebars just butt against each other within the post, so you don't see the ends. I started on one end of the deck and just threaded the rebar through, doing a whole section at a time rather than by row, because you have to leave the posts a little loose at first to get the rebar through, then tighten your bolts up later. The longest pieces of rebar are only through about 3 posts; some only span 2. Easier to handle that way. I hope that answers your question. :)

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