Painting Equipment For Industrial Environments
Sometimes, there’s more to an industrial environment than the actual foundation and building. Sometimes, a few of these industrial buildings actually have industrial equipment. And when that industrial equipment gets used to fabricate, or compress, or treat, they can become very dirty and corrode. So it’s common to find facilities that need their equipment painted with protective coatings.
I was contacted by a manufacturing facility in Baltimore, Maryland, looking for an industrial painting contractor. And when I went to visit his facility, it presented with nearly 200 pieces of equipment that needed cleansed and coated.
And although this sounds relatively easy, equipment painting has a lot of challenges.
For example, if you look at this piece, there are a lot of nooks, and crevices welded together to create the formation of this piece of equipment. How much surface area is there? How long do you think it will take to paint this? These are challenging questions that an estimator must ask himself/herself when conducting a site visit.
Or take this piece. Obviously, it’s in desperate need of a bath. It has grease and oil running down its sides. It has a reservoir filled with contaminated water. And not only this, but the previous paint dried with runs and drips. So before an estimator can begin to assess how much time and material is required to paint these, he/she needs to figure out how to clean them.
And sure, it’s easy to conclude that they need hot water power washed with some degreaser. But, it’s not like that can be done in its current location. So where can the cleaning be orchestrated? And who’s mobilizing the equipment to where the cleaner can clean the equipment? And not only that but where are we putting the contaminated water? There are laws that need to be considered when disposing contaminated water. So it’s quit possible that local authorities need to be considered. Or an abatement contractor needs to be called onto the site to abate the contaminated water.
But then, when the customer requests this piece to be painted, you can eliminate power washing as a prep method. Something like this, with the electronics and wiring, can’t be power washed with all the sensitive parts. So you have to estimate time to hand wipe the surfaces with a degreaser. But, then you have to factor in additional time to adequately hand wipe the surface so that you have it nearly as clean if you were to power wash it.
So although painting equipment may sound like it’s an ordinary task with simple motions, it presents just as many challenges, if not more, as painting facilities.
PennCoat, Inc. has been providing industrial painting, commercial painting, epoxy flooring, and polished concrete services for nearly 30 years. Our experienced installers are trained and equipped with the proper knowledge and tools to ensure that every installation is installed efficiently and safely. PennCoat, Inc. provides service to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. And we cover York, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Chester, Montgomery, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Bucks, Berks, and other counties in the surrounding area.
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