Rusting Rivet Heads on Lanai Bird Cage
 

A number of rivet heads are rusting on the lania bird cage. The installer is out of business. What might be effective ways to deal with this situation? I am wary of stripping the heads if I remove them.

Thanks.

Rusty Metal
 

Any bare metal is going to corrode (rust), it's a fact of nature. You have to put a barrier between the metal and water/air. Try removing the rust with steel wool then cover with paint or clear nail polish. I've replace many sheet metal screws at my place, the best place to buy new painted screws is at Pat's on 441 in Leesburg.

Jeff

Jeff's suggestion for cleaning them up as good as possible then painting them will work and hopefully should keep them from rusting again.

Other options:

If they're truly steel rivets, you can drill them out and replace them with aluminum rivets that are factory color coated to match your lanai. On the first one, use a small enough drill bit to drill just the rivet head out without going past it. Then you can poke or pull the rivet stem out. Measure the diameter of the hole that the rivet was in and use it as the sizing for your new replacement aluminum rivets. Drill out and replace one at a time.

If they're steel screws, simply back them out and replace them with aluminum or stainless steel screws, again - one at a time.

I assume your lanai frame is aluminum.

Bill :)

I was just looking at the same over the weekend. Above the pool some rust is starting to show. How in the heck can I get access to those? Scaffolding? Somebody know a reputable company.

We had all our screening replaced on our 16 year old pool cover.
At the same time I had all the screws replaced with new coated screws.
Even if there was no rust showing they replaced everything with new white screws.
The old screws were #6 and they replaced them with #8 to get a good bite in the old hole.
We used Todd's Screen repair in Leesburg (352) 205-7818 and were very happy.
It took 3 guys the whole day to do the screws and screen.

I would buy some silicone caulking the same color and the bird cage frame, put a latex glove on one hand, put a small amount of caulk on one finger of the glove and apply it to the rivet allowing the caulk to cover an area a little greater than the size of the head of the rivet. Do not bother to clean the rust on the rivet it is more color than decay and the caulk will stick to the surrounding area and preserve the rivet. I should say I have not done this put this would by my solution to the problem.

Does naval jelly work well?

Rustynail ==> you suggested Pat's. Is there a company name to search?

Pat's
 

Pat's Sales. 1095 14th St. Leesburg (just south of where 441 turns left) . They have sheet metal screws in assorted colors and sizes in bulk bins.

Thanks.