Yes, it absolutely can—but it doesn’t have to. The short answer is that ordinary liquid paint applied directly to bare steel will almost certainly start peeling, cracking, or flaking after a few years of regular rain exposure. The longer answer is that modern outdoor furniture, especially well-made street benches, usually uses a different process that resists peeling much better.
Steel is a fantastic structural material, but it has one big enemy: rust. Water and oxygen trigger oxidation, and as rust forms underneath a paint layer, it pushes the paint away from the metal. This is the classic peeling you see on old benches, railings, and light poles. Rain alone isn’t the only culprit either—ultraviolet light from the sun breaks down the chemical bonds in many paints, making them brittle. Add temperature swings that expand and contract the steel, and the paint film gradually loses adhesion. After a few seasons, you get cracks, then blisters, then exposed rust spots.
However, most quality steel street benches today are not simply “painted” in the traditional wet-paint sense. They are powder coated. Powder coating involves spraying dry polymer particles onto the steel and then baking the piece in an oven. The powder melts and fuses into a continuous, durable skin that is much more resistant to moisture, UV radiation, and impact than liquid paint. A well-applied powder coat can easily last 10 to 20 years outdoors, even through heavy rain, snow, and sun. It won’t peel in sheets the way old alkyd or acrylic paint does. Instead, if it fails, it usually does so slowly—fading first, then eventually wearing thin at sharp edges or high-traffic contact points.
Another critical factor is surface preparation. If the steel is not properly cleaned, degreased, and primed before coating—whether liquid or powder—any coating will fail early. Professional manufacturers often use a zinc-rich primer or galvanization underneath the topcoat. Galvanized steel has a protective zinc layer that sacrifices itself to protect the steel even if the topcoat is scratched. This is why some street benches last decades without peeling while cheap imported benches start rusting within two years.
So, will the paint peel off? If you buy a cheap bench with a single coat of spray paint, yes, expect peeling within one to three years. If you buy a quality bench with galvanized steel and a baked-on powder coat, no—it should remain intact through many years of rain, though it may show minor scratches or fade over time. Regular cleaning with mild soap and water, plus touching up any deep scratches with a rust-inhibiting paint, will further extend its life. The real answer isn’t about the rain alone; it’s about how the paint system was designed and applied.