dog pen

[roho627]

Bravo Bravo(is that brovO or BravO) JazzDad PIC's We want pictures!

[Pat]

There is a lot of well intentiioned repeating of hearsay but painting galvanized metal with todays paint and having it last a long time, especially when exposed to dog urine requires a more rigourous prep based in science and reality rather that "folk wisdom.")

You can prep the galvanized with vinegar, lemon juice, or hog spit and paint over it but the longivity without a proper cleaning and priming will make a waste of your time and materials. Good hog spit is NOT CHEAP.

If you want the galvanized to hold paint you need to clean it properly and use a primer intended for galvanized metal (contact the tech support of any major paint company, not some punk rocker working at Lowes in the paint dept, for a recommendation in that company's brand.) You might also want a recommendatioin from them for paint that resists dog urine (contains salt, various salts other than NaCl, and acids.) There are various chemical resistive paints (depending on chemicals needing resisting) including two part epoxies.

Welding galvanized. Smart move not welding it for multiple reasons. When you are wearing your welding helmet and leaning over the welding process convective currents often funnel the welding fumes right inside. Breathing the fumes from the zinc is a VERY BAD idea. If you do get a good whiff or three then drink huge quantities of milk and get advice from your doctor or the poison info center (or whatever they are called.)

Welding galvanized produces poor welds if you don't remove most-all the galvanized first. If you don't mind an ugly inferior weld, you can do it. You then need to clean the weld and apply "cold galvanize" a spray can product or prime and paint the weld after very serious chipping, grinding, and cleaning.

You didn't mention your skill level as a welder but asking your questions suggests beginner. When I was a beginner (and still as an advanced beginner) I had (have) trouble stick welding thinwalled tubing such as is used in chainlink construction. The galvanizing makes it harder, not impossible, but harder. I can sort of do a passible job with my wire feed unit (MIG) using innershield wire. Better would be gas shielded. To get a decent joint with the thinwall you need a jig for maing joints that really fit well prior to welding. Harbor Freight has a hobby grade unit for around $30 or so that uses hole saws to do just that. Should work well with the thinwall stuff if you get into a need to go through with welding some.

Please report back what you find out about prep, primer, and paint.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Billyray00]

My "dog pen" I spoke of is actually a kennel. When it's presentable I will post pics.
In the meantime, I wasn't able to find everything I needed locally so I ordered some parts from hoover fence
The idea of finding paint that might prevent corrosion due to dog urine sounds intriguing. I will definetly check into it.

[Pat]

You might also be interested in a safe enzyme product that will kill kennel odor. I used to use Odor Mute. You mix it with water (safe on your hands), strain it and spray it on wood. concrete, whatever. It is safe on anything you can spray with water. It will even deodorize a skunk sprayed dog.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]