Rusted coping - How to repair?

[Esand323]

Hi all,

I bought a house last year and was told by the pool inspector that our rim was rusting and needed to be sanded and painted (estimated $250 for this as he said it would just be a bit of labor). We hired them to replace the liner and sand the coping in the Spring. Long story short, only the liner was put in and we've moved on from them.

I'm a bit concerned about what this rusting will do to our coping. I was told it would be $10k+ to replace. I'm only planning to live in this house for ~7 years and one of my fears is needing to have this repair done in order to sell the house. We were told by the inspector that sanding and painting would prevent us from needing to replace. We decided to get another company involved for this minor repair (and other repairs) and they came out to inspect. According to them, the rust is cosmetic. We can sand and paint it, but we're just "bandaging" it. I didn't ask at the time, but I'd imagine that sanding and painting would, at the very least, be better than nothing in terms of longevity of the coping. Eventually, the rust will cause the coping to fail? We're hoping to delay that as long as possible so that we can move out of the house and not have a repair request on this for 10k+. Fortunately, the rest of the coping is not rusted. There's only a 10ft section that is rusting and it's only really bad near the skimmer.

Lastly, I have to do this repair myself. How can I do this? Unfortunately, with the liner in, there will be parts that I can't get. Especially within the liner track. My plan was to put some plastic down in the water to catch debris, and also have someone ready to scoop out anything that might fall in with a fine scooper. I was planning to put painters tape on the liner and use a sanding block (not sure on the grit) to sand it down to the metal. Then use appliance paint (recommend by one company). Should I spray rust converter as well? For the parts I can't reach with the sanding block (mostly inside the liner track), I was planning to carefully scrap the large chunks off with a flat head screwdriver.

To quickly sum this up, I'm curious how I can go about fixing or patching this rusting problem. Also, is this a manageable problem, or are we inevitably going to need a replacement in the near future.

A few quick details about the pool: 15x30 inground oval vinyl pool with original coping built in 1977.



Note: The liner was tucked in behind the skimmer faceplate because of rusting in the track I presume. I also replaced that nasty weir door since the picture.

Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

What material is the coping?

Is it ferrous metal? Put a magnet on and see if it sticks. Rust is iron oxide. You need to determine what material it is. If you have rust or corrosion and how best to treat it and then paint it.

 

[Chickinvic]

The way the liner is sitting there looks strange to me. What did the 2nd pool company say about it?

 

[Esand323]

I'm not sure the specific material the coping is made of. Any way to tell? The magnet does stick to it.

The second company said that the liner track was rusted above the skimmer, that's why first company put the liner the way it is. I wish the first company would have told me that, I would have gladly paid extra for them to spend a bit of time clearing it out, like they originally said they would (although it wasn't in the contract, so they didn't - lesson learned). The second company had a few things that the first company should have done. But they said since the liner is already in, just roll with it. The liner might just not last 10 years. I'm okay with that, just trying to get as many years as I can without permanent damage to the pool. Just wanted to get away from the first company ASAP. As a side note, a different company told me that the first company isn't even qualified to chlorinate a bird bath, hahaha . Wish I would have known that last year!

 

[ajw22]

If the magnet sticks to the coping then it is ferrous metal. I would put a rust neutralizer on it before painting.

 

[Esand323]

Thanks for the reply! What type of paint should I use? It looks like appliance paint is an epoxy paint, but the rust neutralizer says to use lacquer or oil based paint. Lastly, the rust neutralizer goes on black, as a primer, so I probably won't be able to get in the liner track at all. Is that okay? Any permanent damage if that isn't taken care of until a new liner?

 

[ajw22]

Rustoleum goes on as brown. It says Top with Professional Enamel for maximum performance.

Professional Rusty Metal Primer Product Page

Rust-Oleum® Professional Rusty Metal Primer is ideal for metal surfaces in heavy-duty environments. It covers well and protects against the elements.

www.rustoleum.com

You want oil based paint for outdoor metals. Water based paints are not going to last around a pool.

The longer the rust stays without being neutralized the deeper it will corrode the metal. Rust is the metal disintegrating.

 

[Esand323]

Thanks for the help!

Unfortunately, with the liner in, there isn't much I can do. I could work in sections by pulling the liner out of the track, scraping the rust off and out of the liner track, prime w/ rustoleum and paint, then put the liner back in. I could drain the water quite a bit to help put the liner in and not have it slip too much. (really wouldn't mind trucking in more water to refill, especially at the end of the season). My biggest concern would be taking the liner out of the track and putting it back in. I could see that being an issue and I don't think many pool companies would really come out to help fix that as a small job.

 

[Mr. Scott]

I have done some autobody work. If the metal is really rusted, its best to completely replace it. At the very least, it will need to be power wirebrushed or sandblasted, then treated with a rust converter, then primed with a 2k epoxy primer which is the only waterproof primer, then a 2k urethane topcoat. FYI, 2K means two part, catalyst curing paint which is much much stronger than any one part paint. Aerosol can paint tends to be junk. However, 2k paint besides being more expensive requires a air compressor and a paint gun plus mixing supplies.

 

[Esand323]

It's not too rusted. I talked with a professional in the area who thought treating it would be fine. Given that it's the original coping, they didn't think it was too bad. The only advice he gave me was to sand off the rust and put a rubber based paint over it (here is what he recommend: Olympic Paralon 2 Pool Paint). He said he wouldn't use rustoleum rust converter because then I'll be limited to only using rustoleum paint in the future (he claimed that other paint won't go on the rust converter well). I have no idea how accurate he really is on this. I did ask what stops the rust from progressing if I don't use a converter. His answer was just that I would sand it off when it came back.

Sort of seems like using rustoleum will still be the best route, going against his opinion.

 

[Mr. Scott]

After cleaning metal, you generally want to use either a rust converter or a rust neutralizer like navel jelly to kill the rust in the pores and pits mechanical rust removal misses. Rust is just like cancer, miss a little bit and it can grow right back.

 

[Esand323]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, there are spots we won't be able to get, so it will come back. It's rusting on both sides of the coping.

 

[ajw22]

He said he wouldn't use rustoleum rust converter because then I'll be limited to only using rustoleum paint in the future (he claimed that other paint won't go on the rust converter well). I have no idea how accurate he really is on this. I did ask what stops the rust from progressing if I don't use a converter. His answer was just that I would sand it off when it came back.

Sort of seems like using rustoleum will still be the best route, going against his opinion.

You are getting bad advice. You can put any oil based paint over rustoleum. Neutralize the rust and the paint will last for years. Otherwise you will be sanding and painting every year as your coping disintegrates.

 

[Esand323]

I figured as such. The rust will come back though, correct? There are spots that I wont be able to get to, especially areas like behind the coping. The rust converter will just help delay?

 

[Mr. Scott]

I figured as such. The rust will come back though, correct? There are spots that I wont be able to get to, especially areas like behind the coping. The rust converter will just help delay?

Correct, you are just buying some time. Eventually it will rust through from the backside to the front.

 

[Esand323]

That is what I figured. Hopefully it just holds up until we are out of the house. Fortunately, it doesn't seem as though it will rust through anytime soon.