Industrial painting
Industrial exterior painting
Metal buildings, structural steel, tank exteriors, and support structures, coated to stand up to sun, rain, salt air, and rust.
Overview
Coatings that hold up outside
Outside, a plant’s coatings take everything at once: UV, rain, fog, temperature swings, and whatever the plant or the road puts in the air. Sun breaks the finish down until it chalks, peels, and flakes, and then moisture gets to the steel. Industrial exterior painting stops that cycle with the right system on a properly prepped surface.
What we paint outside
Metal buildings: siding, trim, doors, and generator rooms. Metal building painting has its own page.
Structural steel: I-beams, platforms, racks, and support structures.
Tanks, silos, and towers: tank and silo exteriors, plus loading towers and other tall steel.
Rooftop and yard equipment: cooling tower supports, pumps, piping, and well heads.
A system built for the weather
Most exterior steel gets three layers: a zinc-rich or rust-inhibiting primer against corrosion, an epoxy body coat for toughness, and a polyurethane topcoat that stands up to UV. That’s the system we used on the well head pumps at Wellhead Electric’s Delano plant. Where the steel and the exposure allow it, a direct-to-metal primer and topcoat does the job in fewer steps, as on the tanks, silos, and I-beams at Sierra Silica.
Prep to the right standard
Many exterior jobs are prepped by hand and power tool cleaning to SSPC SP2 and SP3: loose rust and mill scale ground, chipped, and descaled off. Where the steel needs more, we coordinate water or abrasive blasting and oversee it as part of the job.
Working with the weather
Coatings need a dry surface and the right temperature to cure, so we schedule around the forecast. On San Francisco’s Sutro Tower, where fog keeps the steel wet, our crews stood by and went to work as soon as the fog lifted. Coastal sites and plants with chemical exposure get tougher systems and closer checks.
Projects
Industrial exterior projects
Corrosion controlSierra Silica ResourcesTen 30,000-gallon tanks and silos, plus steel I-beams.
PaintingGreen Diamond – Wood Chip Loading TowerGreen Diamond – Coastal Wood‑Chip Loader Coatings Project Client: One of the five largest…
UV protective coatingsWellhead Electric – Delano PowerThe client needed to update the exterior coating on their wellhead pumps which had begun…
Industrial painting
More industrial painting
What coating system is best for exterior steel?
For most steel outdoors: a zinc-rich or rust-inhibiting primer, an epoxy body coat, and a polyurethane topcoat for UV. Coastal, chemical, and high-heat exposures can change that, so we pick the system after we see the steel and what it’s exposed to.
Why is the coating on our equipment peeling?
Years of sun and weather break a coating down until it chalks, peels, and flakes. Once it lets go, the steel underneath starts to rust. The fix is to take off what’s loose, prep the steel, and recoat with a system that has a UV-stable topcoat.
Can you paint at coastal and foggy sites?
Yes. We’ve coated the steel on a coastal wood chip loading tower for Green Diamond and on San Francisco’s Sutro Tower, where we worked around the fog. We schedule around the weather and use systems made for salt air.
How long does an industrial exterior coating last?
It depends on the system, the prep, and the exposure. Steel in a dry inland yard lasts far longer than steel near the coast or a chemical plant. We tell you what to expect from the system we recommend, and a maintenance program keeps the worn spots from spreading.