# Repairing/replacing rusted iron roof support columns



## jeffgreene (Jun 13, 2013)

Summertime.  Abundant honeydos and attending to deferred maintenance.  

Was cleaning scale from the base of four columns supporting the roof over the pool deck when this one crumbled.  Seems chlorine over time doesn't agree with them.  These columns are 2"x2" and reminiscent of the wrought iron decorative supports used on front porches for many decades.  

These guys have been here for fifty-five years, so I'd have to say they have served well, although with better maintenance they would have served much longer.

WHAT would be the process for repair?  Would replacement be the more wise alternative?  The other three are in good shape and wire brush/sanding and rustoleum have them in shape for the next cycle.  But what to do with this disaster waiting to happen?


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## jeffgreene (Jun 13, 2013)

P.S.  here's where I intended to wind up.  Threw the rustoleum on to slow down further decay pending resolution.


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## nealtw (Jun 13, 2013)

If they lasted forty plus years, sounds like the right product for the job. I would suspect that there is a flange at the bottom bolted to a concrete footong or slab. I would think replacing it with the same to keep the look right with the rest of them, but you may have to dig up some of the stone around it.


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## CallMeVilla (Jun 13, 2013)

Your best long term fix is to replace the steel section which has corroded.  If you can find a mobile metal guy (hello Craigslist?) you can temporarily support the post, cut off the bad section, and weld a new piece in place.  The trick will be the attachment to the bolt in the cement.

You can do it in reverse.  Chip out the cement, remove the rusted section and the hold-down bolt.  Fabricate a new section with a threaded piece on the inside.  Thread the new hold down bolt into the new post section, leaving a length that will be buried in the cement.  Weld the new section so its bottom is level with where the cement will be.  Pour the cement to bury the bolt and level it to the bottom of the new section.

Prime and paint!


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