Diving board stand rusting

[sjsoldo]

Hi there. Have a diving board made by a popular manufacturer with a metal base. Problem is that the base gets exposed to water and starts rusting. Every year I have to remove it. sand/ strip off the old paint/ primer and start over. Been using the Rust-Oleum Primer and White enamel. But truth is, it holds up poorly with exposure to water, and I have to repaint it every winter.

Water also gets underneath it, between the cement and the flat part of the base, and rust just gets worse. I don't rust to eat away and weaken the metal in the base or I will have to buy a new one.

Question: Is there a paint/ primer product that is durable? I found a few automotive products but I don't know if they will work for this application...

 

[Bama Rambler]

Your best bet is to find someone that powder coats and clean it really well and have it powder coated. Either that, or have a new one built out of stainless steel. You could also have it nickel plated, but I'm not sure it will hold up much better.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Powder coating would be good like said above. You could also try a paint called POR-15, which does really well with rust. Maybe even have it sprayed with bedliner type material. I think Linex even sells a white version of their liner.

 

[JohnT]

Powder coating or look for the two-part epoxy coating used above deck on boats. I talked to a guy about powder coating and he said his oven would take too long to heat it to be worth his while to do it, but you may have better luck.

 

[ping]

Primo Powder Coating and Sandblasting is loacated in Huntington Beach if you are close enough. I've had them powder coat several bikes throughout the years. They will sandblast it clean, and then powder coat it so you do not have to do any labor sanding the stand.

 

[diyindux]

POR-15 is decent but can't survive exposure to UV rays. A coating of that will stop the rust then you can paint over that. Bedliner material is pretty durable, but the stuff in spray cans is junk. If you take the piece to a shop that sprays in the liners, they might be able to shoot it when they paint a truck bed.

I ended up buying a saltwater board setup to avid this as everyone with a salt pool seemed to have the same problem. Of course all three required components cost almost $1,000. That buys a lot of paint.

 

[sjsoldo]

Well the base of this S.R. Smith board came with power coating, lasted about 3 seasons then I had to paint it again. Wish it was made out of stainless, would have been well worth the money.

I will see if there is a company that can do power coating near where I live in SoCal. Otherwise, I will try one of the automotive products.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[jblizzle]

Mine seems to have more if a plastic/rubber coat than hard powder coating.

 

[sjsoldo]

Well does it prevent rust?

 

[X-PertPool]

Herculiner comes in gray. It is very durable and easy to apply if you can deal with gray. It can be applied thick enough that you don't have to worry about scratching through the coating when removing or installing the board.

 

[diyindux]

Your biggest problem will be stopping the rust that had already begun. Rust is difficult to stop once it starts. If you use a product like POR15 which encapsulates it to block oxygen it will effectively be stopped. Then a coating of roll-on (not spray can) bed liner will probably hold up for a while.

 

[X-PertPool]

I've also heard of a rust converter product (I've never used it) But Regardless if you follow bedliner instructions you should be fine. As some of those instructions require the removal of all rust and the surface to be rough. So basically you will be sanding until you see shiny metal and then quickly apply the bedliner material etc.

 

[bobby1017]

Mine rusted in the first year, I had it sandblasted and powder coated, its on year two now and there are a couple small rust spots but much better than the original. I also considered having it hot dip galvanized but went powder instead, I think the hot dip would be more durable in the long run.