Prep Your Surface, and Prep it Well

By Jeff White

In the industrial painting industry, I’ve heard people say that “more than 80% of failures are because of poor surface preparation.” It’s also been said that surface preparation is the most important part of a coating system.

You can think of surface preparation as being like the foundation of a building. If a building has a poor foundation, it can lean or have more severe problems, like completely collapsing. A coating system with a poor surface preparation foundation will likely fail sooner than it should, like after five years rather than ten, or it can fail catastrophically within the first year of application.

There are literally volumes written about degrees and types of surface preparation with standards to go with each one, so it’s a huge topic to tackle.

This PaintSquare article is a great place to start. For additional information on surface preparation, many helpful resources are available from organizations such as the Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) and NACE International, the Corrosion Society.

Founded in 1947, Induron manufactures high performance coatings that serve a range of industrial applications, including the wastewater, transmission and distribution and groundwater storage industries.

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