Prevention Saves Money in Long Run

While most homeowners know how to treat and prevent rust spots on junior’s tricycle or wagon, preventing rust and corrosion in the home is more important--and more of a mystery. Here are typical areas of the home that are subject to corrosion--and eventual repair bills--along with preventive measures.

Flashing: Suppose a piece of flashing works its way loose from your chimney. Ignoring the fact that the flashing was improperly installed, your first idea is to quickly refasten the loose flashing by driving a couple of steel masonry nails into the mortar joints and then caulking over the nail heads.

Don’t do it, as galvanic corrosion will result, especially when the caulk breaks down. The steel nail heads in contact with the stainless steel will corrode quickly, and the flashing will become loose and fall off. Also, the nail will rust, expand and break apart more mortar, damaging the chimney. Instead, tuck point the joints where the flashing loosened.

Gutters: If you have old-fashioned steel gutters on your house, clean them well. Tannic acid leaches out of leaves in your gutters. This acid is corrosive to steel gutters and stains aluminum, so keep the gutters clean.

Don’t hold up sagging aluminum gutters with steel nails. Caulking over the nail heads only buys you a little time. Instead, use aluminum gutter spikes.

Railings: The posts that hold up the handrail may rust. Build up a small mound of mortar or anchoring cement at the base of the posts to ensure water runs away from the post.

Remember to seal at the base of the post with a good grade of exterior caulk. In case a gap opens between the masonry and the post, you will need a flexible material to bridge the gap. Silicone and other exterior caulks fill the bill nicely here.

Outdoor woodwork: Galvanized nails are better than non-coated nails, known as bright finish. Countersink nail holes where possible and putty the holes. Screws are also available with weatherproof coatings.

If you live in a humid area, or near saltwater, a marine supply store nearby may be able to furnish stainless steel fasteners.

Galvanized hinges, hasps and bolts are likewise preferable to non-galvanized.

Plumbing: Avoid connecting copper to steel pipe. Galvanic corrosion of the steel threads will cause plumbing leaks. If you must join the two materials, separate the metals with a nylon insulation union, available at plumbing supply stores.

No, Teflon tape is not enough to isolate the two metals. Threaded connectors will often pierce the Teflon.

Use plastic pipe when you have a choice, especially with in-ground plumbing, such as sprinkler systems.

Hard water conducts electricity better than soft water. Both copper and steel plumbing will last longer if you install a water softener to deal with hard water. The steel-copper plumbing connections mentioned above corrode more quickly in hard water than in soft water.