Forum

About the Landscape Juice Network

Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.

LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry

LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.

For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.

Restoring a manhole cover

Posted by Geoff Norfolk on November 26, 2010 at 9:57am

I'm replacing a sagging mildsteel manhole cover in a drive with a secondhand cast-iron one which is looking a bit old.... probably is! Any ideas about making it look "new" again...... do they apply some sort of matt black paint when they're originally made or is that the natural colour of the cast iron? Could just put a wire brush on the angle grinder to clean it up and then give it a coat of black Hammerite though that might look a bit to good for a manhole.

Views: 5636

You need to be a member of Landscape Juice Network to add comments!

Join Landscape Juice Network

★
★
★
★
★
Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Geoff Norfolk November 26, 2010 at 11:15am
    I have actually bought the secondhand heavy duty cast-iron one, with frame, for £16 on good old Ebay....... £60+ new. I really detest the galvanised steel ones and reckon they look cheap and nasty.... well they are cheap definitely. The cast-iron ones, like they use on the roads, are much more robust though obviously will tend to fracture if a sharp impact is appled..... this one is rated for 5T though I reckon the old galvanised one was only mean't for pestrians to walk over. Think it's going to have to be the Hammerite then.... small tin for £5 will do the trick.
  • Geoff Norfolk November 26, 2010 at 11:22am
    Unfortunately, the cover I had to replace was a more unusual size.... 600mm x 600mm .... so couldn't just nip into Wickes. The ones there , although rated at 5T, only recommend use on a driveway where a standard domestic car might go.... no vans or anything a bit heavier..... so I reckon they must be pretty much on their limit with a car. They've also got those flimsy plastic frames which have very little depth to concrete into..... I'm sure they're fine on a patio etc though.


    Gary @ Acer Paving & Landscaping said:
    If this is for a customer my advice would be to get them to fork out for a new 5 tonne rated ( or preferably 10t ) galvanised steel cover.

    They are only £15 in Wickes - see here

    The reason the last one sagged was almost certainly because it was a pedestrian cover and it's likely your replacement lid will crack unless it's not propery rated.

    Even if it's for yourself I would do this, £15 quid isn't a lot to do it right.
  • Lawncare-4u.co.uk November 26, 2010 at 11:25am
    my builder used one of these on my new drain on my pedestrian path to my house :)_.........bargain

    Gary @ Acer Paving & Landscaping said:
    If this is for a customer my advice would be to get them to fork out for a new 5 tonne rated ( or preferably 10t ) galvanised steel cover.

    They are only £15 in Wickes - see here

    The reason the last one sagged was almost certainly because it was a pedestrian cover and it's likely your replacement lid will crack unless it's not propery rated.

    Even if it's for yourself I would do this, £15 quid isn't a lot to do it right.
  • Lawncare-4u.co.uk November 26, 2010 at 11:32am
    do wilkinsons sell hamerite or is it a homebase job :(

    Geoff Norfolk said:
    I have actually bought the secondhand heavy duty cast-iron one, with frame, for £16 on good old Ebay....... £60+ new. I really detest the galvanised steel ones and reckon they look cheap and nasty.... well they are cheap definitely. The cast-iron ones, like they use on the roads, are much more robust though obviously will tend to fracture if a sharp impact is appled..... this one is rated for 5T though I reckon the old galvanised one was only mean't for pestrians to walk over. Think it's going to have to be the Hammerite then.... small tin for £5 will do the trick.
  • Simon Knops November 26, 2010 at 5:29pm
    Agree with Pro Gard on this. If you are feeling experimental then having brushed it back apply some oil with a soft cloth very sparingly and then buff back so that no oil can get on shoes and be trodden about.
  • Fenlandphil November 26, 2010 at 9:38pm
    I think they use black bitumen paint on man hole covers. Why not contact one of the manufacturers and seek their advice.
    Clark steel
  • Andy Thorne November 26, 2010 at 11:35pm
    Just make sure that you set the frame on mortar when you fit it!

    A few years ago I was doing a load of turfing for a property developer and was importing about 30t of topsoil, using a skidsteer. The groundwork guys had done all the drains etc. I drove over one of these 2' square ones and smashed it! (IIRC they were rated 10t) In my shock and surprise I went over another one which ended the same way :o
    The reason was that they had just placed the cast frame on the brickwork of the chamber and haunched around it!
    Cast of course doesn't bend so when it was loaded it just went. They went down massive chambers around 20' deep! - (Well ok, at least 12'!)
    Fortunately the site manager didn't have a problem, he just went and got 2 new ones, I fitted them correctly and that was that :)
This reply was deleted.

Hot Discussions

Leading contributors

Featured Discussions

Trade green waste centres

<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-WQ68WVXQ8K"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-WQ68WVXQ8K'); </script>

LJN Sponsor

Advertising

Blogs

More on LJN

Featured business articles

About LJN