Rust Starts Inside the Tube

Water gets into a hollow section far more easily than it gets out, and the corrosion that ends a gate almost always begins where nobody can look. The failure analysis kept at Pearland Iron Gates, TX Elizabethbaron starts inside the bore rather than at the finish, because iron gates in Pearland live in humid air that condenses inside cool steel every night.

How the Water Arrives

Through an open picket top, through the joint at a rail, through a drilled hole for a bracket, and through simple condensation as the metal cools below the dew point after sunset. None of those needs rain. A gate that has never stood in weather still collects moisture inside its tubes.

Where the Drainage Goes

A small hole at the lowest point of every closed section, drilled at fabrication and left open. On a horizontal rail that means the underside near each end. On a vertical picket it means just above the bottom rail. Those holes are also what allows a hot dip galvanizing bath to fill and drain the inside of the section.

What Internal Rust Looks Like From Outside

A rust stain weeping from a joint or a seam with no damage visible around it. A soft spot that sounds dull when tapped compared with the section beside it. Paint lifting in a blister with clean metal under the edge, which means the corrosion is coming from behind rather than from a scratch.

Checking an Existing Gate

Tap along the bottom rail with a small hammer and listen for the change in note. Look for staining under every horizontal member. Turn a torch into any open end and look for scale. Any of those found early is a repair to one member rather than a replacement of the leaf.

Repair Rather Than Replace

A corroded bottom rail can be cut out and a new section welded in, then the area treated and recoated. That is ordinary fabrication work. Leaving it until the pickets have lost their footing in the rail turns the same job into a rebuild, which is the difference a yearly look underneath makes.