Hire Industrial Painting Contractors to Finish Tough Jobs
I was contacted by a local fabrication company. These guys weld large structural steel objects that include air handler units, frames, and other piece of customized steel structures. This cold box that they’re currently welding weighs about 150,000 pounds. It is 46′ Long x 12′ Wide, and 11′ Tall. But it needs an industrial coating, so they reached out for an industrial painting contractor to complete the project.
Half Primed / Half Not
As you can see in both pictures, some of the steel is primed with a green mastic epoxy. While the remaining steel is exposed. So the first thing our industrial painting contractors had to do was wipe down the exposed steel. When welding, there is often an oily residue left on the steel substrate. This oil help creates cleaner weld lines. But it works against the paint’s ability to bond with the substrate. So the oily residue needed to be removed with denatured alcohol.
Once the oily residue was adequately removed from the metal, the next step was to prime the exposed steel. The customer had his paint specs already selected, and the product he chose to prime with was Dupont Corlar 2.1.
Dupont Corlar 2.1 is an high solids, mastic epoxy. The word mastic indicates that this material has excellent adhesion properties, similar to glue. Additionally, this mastic epoxy comes in a satin finish. Typically, epoxies are naturally glossy. But that gloss can create bonding challenges between additional coats. By altering the formula, and giving it a satin finish, this allows it to be more porous and absorbent, allowing the top coat to build a strong bond with the primer.
Industrial Painting Top Coats Are No Joke
Once the box was entirely primed, it was time to apply the final top coat. The product the customer selected to use was Dupont’s Imron 3.5HG. This product is a high-gloss polyurethane. Urethane paints offer excellent chemical resistant, which is an important quality considering the location that this cold box will eventually be installed. Additionally, urethane paints have excellent color retention, and are UV stable, allowing this structure to maintain its clean white appearance.
One compliment that I will offer Imron is its ability to cover. I priced out the project to use (2) top coats. The biggest reason is because white has a difficult time covering greens and grays in a single application. But Imron had performed very well in 1 application, nearly covering most of the surface. There were a few spots where you could see the prime coat shadowing through the top coat. But it wasn’t nearly as transparent as I would expect a top coat.
Overall, PennCoat’s industrial painting contractors did an excellent job prepping and coating the project. We did experience some set backs in schedule due to the customer needing to gain access to the box for a few mechanical adjustments. But overall the the customer was satisfied.
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 toPennsylvania,New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. And we coverYork,Lancaster,Philadelphia,Chester,Montgomery,Baltimore,Harrisburg,Dauphin,Bucks,Berks, and other counties in the surrounding area.
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