Hydrant Restoration
by Michael Avila

Photos and text Copyright © 2001, Michael Avila

       Below are the steps taken to restore a 1910 M. Greenberg Sons single outlet hydrant.




"I get my hydrants from the City of Modesto Water Department, I think I'm a regular. The people that work down there are great and help out a lot."





"This was what I started with"




"To remove the majority of the old paint I used the point end of a hammer to pick away at the paint, I found it is time consuming but does a great job by not wearing away at my Dewalt angle grinder or wasting sand. I use a sand blaster on the more difficult places to reach."




"Notice that lead is used instead of the threading method that is used now."
Before and after top removal.
     "There was a lot of build up inside."



Photo at left:"Those three tools were what I used for removing the paint and the inside build up."

Photo at right: "My two different kinds of wire brushes help a lot in restoration."

The grinder and a vise are convenient for cleaning up the square head bolts.
Masked, primed, then on to the final coats of paint.





The finished hydrant on display.

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