Painting & Coating
Professional surface treatment and coating — from sandblasting to powder and wet paint systems — engineered for long-term corrosion protection.
Request a QuoteCapabilities
- Sandblasting and surface preparation (Sa 2.5)
- Powder coating line with pre-treatment tunnel
- Wet paint systems (2K polyurethane, epoxy)
- Primer + topcoat multi-layer systems
- Corrosion protection per ISO 12944 (C3-C5)
- Custom colors per RAL and client standards
- DFT measurement and adhesion testing
- Part size up to large fabricated assemblies
Standards
Coating systems selected based on service environment (C3 industrial, C4 coastal, C5-I heavy industrial) with documented DFT and adhesion results.
Corrosion protection starts with the environment, not the paint
The right coating system is chosen from where the part will spend its life, and ISO 12944 puts numbers on that. C3 covers urban and light industrial air. C4 covers coastal and chemical plant exposure. C5-I and C5-M cover heavy industry and marine, where humidity is near-permanent and salt is in the air. Each class implies a different total film thickness and a different number of coats, and a system specified for the wrong class either fails early or costs money it never needed to.
Almost every early coating failure is a preparation failure, not a paint failure. Mill scale, rust, oil and weld spatter all stop paint keying to steel, so surfaces are abrasive blasted to Sa 2½ — near-white metal — and coated inside the window before flash rust forms. Sharp edges and weld seams get particular attention because paint thins as it pulls over an edge, and those thin spots are exactly where corrosion starts. Powder coating runs through a pre-treatment tunnel for the same reason.
Powder and wet paint are not interchangeable, and the choice is usually settled by part size and finish. Powder gives a harder, more uniform film in a single pass with no solvent, and suits parts that fit the oven and need a durable even finish. Wet systems — two-pack epoxy primer under polyurethane topcoat — go on large fabrications that will not fit an oven, on multi-coat high-durability builds for C5, and where a specific topcoat is specified. Dry film thickness is measured and adhesion tested either way, and the results are documented with the part.
Coating systems by exposure class
| Environment (ISO 12944) | Typical system | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| C2–C3 | Powder coat over pre-treatment, or epoxy primer plus PU topcoat | Indoor plant, urban and light industrial exposure, machinery covers and frames |
| C4 | Zinc-rich or epoxy primer plus PU topcoat, higher total film thickness | Coastal sites, chemical and food plant, agricultural equipment |
| C5-I / C5-M | Multi-coat epoxy build with PU finish | Heavy industry, marine and offshore structures, mining equipment |
| Preparation (all classes) | Abrasive blasting to Sa 2½, or pre-treatment tunnel for powder | Coated within the window before flash rust; edges and seams given extra film |
Systems are indicative. The specified class, expected service life, topcoat colour and whether the part fits our oven all change the build, so tell us the environment and the part size and we will propose the system rather than guess at one.
Coating Questions
Powder coating or wet paint — which should I choose?
Powder if the part fits the oven and you want a hard, even, solvent-free finish in one pass; it is usually the better answer for machinery covers, frames and enclosures. Wet paint for fabrications too large to bake, for multi-coat C5 systems where total film thickness matters, and where a specific topcoat or a repairable finish is specified. Tell us part size and exposure class and the choice usually makes itself.
What surface preparation do you use?
Abrasive blasting to ISO 8501-1 Sa 2½ for wet-painted steel, which removes mill scale, rust and contamination to near-white metal. Powder-coated parts pass through a chemical pre-treatment tunnel instead. In both cases the coating goes on inside the window before flash rust forms, because a blasted surface left overnight is no longer a blasted surface.
How is coating quality verified?
Dry film thickness is measured with a calibrated gauge across the part, not at one convenient spot, and adhesion is tested to the applicable standard. Both are recorded and the results are supplied with the parts. Where a specification sets a minimum DFT per coat or for the whole system, that is what we measure against and report.
Can you match a specific colour?
Yes — RAL is standard, and we also work to customer colour standards and corporate colours. For a close match to an existing part, send a sample rather than a colour name: two suppliers' interpretation of the same RAL number can differ visibly, and a physical reference removes the argument.
Need Coated Parts?
Tell us your environment, color requirements and part sizes — we will recommend the right coating system.
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