Anglesey Smallholder

With the days starting to get longer, but spring still not quite here, it’s time to begin some maintenance. My first task was simple: to repaint the somewhat dilapidated front gate.

The gate was quite dirty, and the paint was starting to bubble in places where water had got in and caused the metal underneath to start rusting. I decided that to make the best job of it, I would strip the gate right back to the bare metal, removing all the old paint and rust.

To prepare the gate, I used a wire-brush attachment for the power drill. The first drill I used was 450 watts, and unfortunately it seems that I burnt it out by using it for hours at a time. I switched to a 1000 watt hammer drill (with the hammer action disabled, of course) to finish. Remember to wear a breathing mask and goggles when doing this – the dust goes everywhere and is probably quite toxic. I’d also recommend doing it outside if at all possible, because it makes a terrible mess. Getting all the paint off took several hours, and wore the brush attachment down to a stump.

Once the gate was all cleaned up, it was time to paint it. I used Hammerite metal paint. It’s tough, long lasting, needs no undercoat, and is perfect for the job. It also goes quite far – I only used about quarter of a small tin. Painting it is a lot quicker than preparing it. I gave it two coats – the second coat has to be applied within 8 hours of the first so that the layers bond together properly. Once it was all done, I left it to dry overnight, and then re-hung it. It certainly looks a lot smarter!