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Burglar bars, gates and palisade priced per metre, not lumped into a wall rate
Rust taken back to sound metal and primed properly — not enamelled over

Security Steelwork Is a Separate Trade

Homes in La Montagne carry a lot of steel: burglar bars on every opening, security gates at doors, palisade or steel fencing at the boundary, driveway gates, and often steel-framed carports. On a typical property here that adds up to a substantial amount of metalwork, and it is metalwork that lives outdoors and rusts.

The problem is that it gets treated as an afterthought on painting quotes. Steel needs a different system from plaster, it is measured differently, it takes far more labour per square metre because of all the edges and profiles, and preparing it properly is slow work. A contractor who has folded it into a general exterior rate has either not measured it or is planning to run a brush of enamel over it and move on.

The visible result of that shortcut is familiar across the suburb: bars and gates that were painted eighteen months ago and are already bleeding orange at the joints and along the bottom rails.

Guide Prices for Painting in La Montagne

Guide ranges for planning purposes only, based on typical La Montagne properties. Steelwork pricing assumes a full anti-rust system rather than a topcoat refresh.
Job	Guide price	What it covers
Burglar bars, per standard opening	R450 – R1,100 each	Both faces, full anti-rust system
Security gate, door opening	R750 – R1,800 each	Both faces, prepared and coated
Palisade fencing	R220 – R450 per metre	Per running metre, both faces
Driveway gate	R2,600 – R7,500	Depends on size and access
Steel carport frame	R320 – R680 per metre	Per running metre of member
Rust converter treatment, heavily pitted areas	R180 – R380/m²	Where physical removal cannot reach
Cutting out and making good rusted sockets	R280 – R550 each	Where steel is set into masonry
Exterior walls, single-storey 3-bed	R28,000 – R48,000	Whole house, walls and eaves

The Anti-Rust System That Actually Holds

There are four stages and skipping any of them is why security steelwork fails early.

One: back to sound metal. Loose rust, scale and failing paint have to come off — wire brushing, mechanical wire wheel, or on heavily pitted sections a chemical rust converter where physical removal cannot reach. Enamel applied over rust is applied over something that is still expanding, and it lifts.

Two: the right primer on bare metal. An etch or zinc phosphate primer on bare steel. On galvanised steel — which most palisade fencing and many gates are — an ordinary primer will not adhere at all and the whole system peels in sheets within a year or two. Galvanising needs a primer formulated for it.

Three: an intermediate build coat. A red oxide or high-build coat gives the system thickness. On exterior steel that film thickness is what buys you years.

Four: two finish coats of enamel. Not one. Steel profiles are full of edges, and paint always pulls thin on an edge, which is exactly where rust restarts.

Two details that separate a lasting job from a cosmetic one. The underside of every horizontal member holds water and is the most common failure point, and it is the surface nobody can see from standing height. And any upright set into concrete or plaster rusts at the socket, which expands and cracks the masonry around it — those points need cutting out and making good, not painting over.

Practical Notes on Security Steelwork

Burglar bars are measured per opening, not per square metre. The labour is in the profile and the edges, so a small window with a complex bar pattern can take longer than a large plain one
Interior side too. Bars have an inside face, and it is usually forgotten. On a bedroom window that face is what you actually look at every day
Gates that cannot be prepared in place — because of dust, overspray or access — may need removing and doing off site. If so it should be stated on the quote along with how long you will be without the gate
Check the fixings. Bolts and brackets rust faster than the bars themselves and are cheap to replace while everything is stripped. Replacing a corroded fixing later means undoing the finish
Palisade is measured per running metre, covering both faces. On a long boundary this is frequently the largest metalwork line on the quote
Do not paint moving parts closed. Hinges, latches, locks and gate motors need masking. A security gate painted stiff is a safety problem, not just an annoyance

Timing Steelwork

The dry windows are late March to May and mid-August to mid-October, but steelwork has a preference within them, and it is the dry winter side.

Enamel wants low humidity and moderate warmth, and the Highveld dry season delivers the lowest humidity of the year. More importantly, bare prepared steel must not sit exposed. Once metal has been taken back to bright metal it starts oxidising again immediately, and in humid or damp conditions that can happen within hours. Prepared steel should be primed the same day, and dry conditions make that far more achievable.

Working hours matter. Start after the morning frost has burned off and any condensation on the metal has evaporated, and finish enamel work by mid-afternoon so the film sets before temperatures drop. That gives a usable window of roughly nine to three in winter, which is why steelwork often takes more calendar days than the labour hours suggest.

Sequence: do the metalwork after the walls. Grinding and wire brushing throws rust dust and debris onto anything below, and you do not want that landing on a freshly finished wall.

Painting Services We Cover in La Montagne

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La Montagne Painting Questions

Why do my burglar bars rust again so quickly?

Because the rust was painted over rather than removed, or because bare steel was primed with the wrong product. Enamel is not a rust treatment — corrosion under the film keeps expanding and pushes the paint off. The metal has to be taken back to sound material and given an etch or zinc phosphate primer before any enamel goes on.

Why does paint peel off my palisade fence?

Almost certainly because the palisade is galvanised and was primed with an ordinary primer. Standard primers do not adhere to a zinc surface, so the entire coating lets go in sheets after a year or two no matter how good the enamel was. Galvanised steel needs a primer specifically formulated for galvanising.

How many coats does exterior steelwork need?

A primer suited to the substrate, an intermediate build coat, and two finish coats of enamel. Not one finish coat. Steel profiles are full of edges and paint always pulls thin on an edge, which is exactly where rust starts again. Film thickness is what buys you years on outdoor metalwork.

Do burglar bars need painting on the inside too?

Yes, and it is routinely forgotten. The inside face is the one you look at every day from inside the room, and it still corrodes — particularly in bathrooms and kitchens where moisture is higher. Confirm that both faces are in the quote rather than assuming it.

Where does steelwork usually fail first?

The underside of horizontal members, where water sits and where nobody can see from standing height. After that, welded joints, and any point where an upright is set into concrete or plaster, since the steel rusts in the socket and expands, cracking the masonry around it. Those sockets need cutting out and making good, not painting over.

Painting a home in La Montagne? Contact Painters Pretoria East for a free, no-obligation quote from painters who work in this area every week.

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