For an exterior stair, is galvanizing worth the expense, or is paint sufficient? Submitted by Ron in Philadelphia.
Rust is always a problem for an exterior stair in northern climates, and paint only protects the outside surface temporarily. Most stairs are constructed with steel pipe, which tends to rust from the inside out. Hot-dip galvanizing after fabrication puts a layer of zinc on both the interior and exterior surface to maximize corrosion resistance. A second-best effort is to use a zinc-rich primer.
